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Edmonton suffers ambulance crunch
7 d0 K% U. J# ^' g: c' vLast updated Jan 31 2006 08:26 AM MST
9 h4 {' O" ^# t- H: ?0 mCBC News
3 A) c) A @: E/ M1 RThere's been a big jump in the number of "red alerts" in Edmonton this year.: V$ W5 P5 v$ i5 j
9 m4 a4 o" L% \3 P1 [) V. _* y. ?"Red alert" is the Emergency Medical Services term for the situation when there are no available ambulances in the entire city.
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" e t* q, }, g: o/ yLast week, a red alert led Capital Health to admit that hospitals can't keep up, meaning ambulances have to wait at emergency until the hospital can take the patient.
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EMS says there were 36 red alerts last year, and nine so far this year – including two Monday afternoon.
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8 i! n" j! Z8 T- s! J6 hRandy Littlechild, head of the union that represents paramedics, says things are getting worse.4 Q! t9 Y. i) u) w6 R, _
5 k* [% {' W7 R& b"We're doing everything we can, but the system is falling apart – really and truly – it's not working," Littlechild says. 7 r' z& _; B) x+ x. v. N
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He says it has come to the point where there has to be an increase of rooms and beds in Edmonton hospitals.
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Capital Health says it will look into making changes to that part of the system. |
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