Patients in ambulances face long wait for care at Moncton hospitals

Long waits for patients to be transferred from the care of paramedics to hospitals in the Moncton area continued this week. 

It's known as an offload delay and results in ambulances remaining parked outside hospitals while ambulances from sometimes an hour away are sent to calls in Moncton.

Hospital staff sick with COVID-19, pre-existing staff shortages and bed capacity issues have been cited by health authorities as factors behind the offload delays. 

Tara Babineau is a paramedic of 13 years in Moncton and the treasurer of the Paramedic Association of New Brunswick. 

"Over the past couple of years, especially since the pandemic has been in play, we have definitely noticed a kind of an increase" in offload delays, Babineau said in an interview on behalf of the association Thursday. 

"But these past couple of weeks have been something we've never experienced before, where we talk about it on a fairly regular basis, that this is by far the worst we have ever seen or ever experienced."

In some instances, Babineau said a paramedic has to spend an entire 12 hour shift waiting with a patient at a hospital. Sometimes the patients are still on uncomfortable stretchers in the back of the ambulance, or waiting in hospital hallways and otherwise empty hospital rooms.

Those waiting for care usually need constant monitoring. Babineau said in some cases, patients with broken bones, serious burns, heart issues or breathing difficulty have waited an hour or more before being admitted. 

Ambulance New Brunswick did not provide an interview Thursday.

On Tuesday last week, offload delays in Moncton saw ambulances dispatched to calls in Moncton from Sussex, Jemseg and Miramichi. While it's tough on patients, Babineau said it's also difficult for paramedics. 

"It's frustrating to not be able to help patients, to have a radio on me and hearing calls go out and hearing crews from an hour or an hour and a half away, going to them, knowing that we're sitting here and we're so close to the people and we can't help them," Babineau said.

"It's that's a whole different level of stress on its own — where we aren't able to do our job."

New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard last week told reporters her department would work with the regional health authorities and Ambulance New Brunswick to address the issue, suggesting she'd have an update within days.

On Thursday, more than a week later, she told reporters the issue would need to be addressed by Horizon Health Network and Vitalité Health Network, which manage hospitals.