Martin quits as Liberal leader - Laval News
Martin quits as Liberal leader - Laval News
Martin quits as Liberal leader - Laval News
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2 • The Chomedey <strong>News</strong> • www.chomedeynews.ca • January 26, 2006<br />
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Better ambulance response<br />
time needed?<br />
Service timely and efficient, Urgences Santé argues<br />
NaNcy GirGiS<br />
An unusual scene greeted skaters at the<br />
Chomedey Arena at around 3:30 p.m. on<br />
January 12: a woman w<strong>as</strong> lying on the ice<br />
in obvious pain, and several people around<br />
her were tending to her. One of the regular<br />
skaters at the scene, Warren Law, quickly<br />
learned that the woman had taken a fall and<br />
had seemingly injured her shoulder. Due to<br />
the woman’s level of pain, the skating rink<br />
monitor estimated that she had dislocated<br />
her shoulder and immediately called 9-1-1.<br />
Despite her painful injury and the fact<br />
that the woman w<strong>as</strong> lying directly on the ice,<br />
Law estimated that it took the ambulance<br />
approximately 35 minutes to arrive. “It gets<br />
quite cold in the arena and she w<strong>as</strong> lying<br />
directly on the ice,” Law explained. “I would<br />
think that ambulances should be aware of<br />
the location of aren<strong>as</strong> and respond in a short<br />
time frame.”<br />
Law and other witnesses believe that<br />
such a situation should not have happened.<br />
However, officials at Urgences Santé disagree<br />
with their version of events.<br />
Urgences Santé spokesperson André<br />
Champagne says that currently in the<br />
greater Montreal area (including <strong>Laval</strong>),<br />
the average ambulance response time is<br />
nine minutes and 11 seconds for most calls.<br />
Resorting to the computer file of the 9-1-1<br />
call, Champagne said that it took the ambulance<br />
only 14 minutes to reach the arena<br />
from the time 9-1-1 w<strong>as</strong> called. He explained<br />
that the call w<strong>as</strong> placed at 3:37 p.m. and that<br />
the ambulance arrived at 3:51 p.m. Timely<br />
and efficient service, Champagne explains,<br />
in spite of the fact that the injury w<strong>as</strong> not<br />
deemed to be severe or life-threatening.<br />
“This w<strong>as</strong> cl<strong>as</strong>sified <strong>as</strong> a Priority 3 call, which<br />
we need to respond to in less than 20 minutes,”<br />
Champagne said. “<br />
Three calls were made to 9-1-1<br />
The people who were at the Arena on<br />
January 12 are contesting Urgences Santé’s<br />
version of events, and some even claim<br />
that the ambulance got lost on its way to<br />
the arena. The Zamboni driver, Jean-Guy<br />
Bour<strong>as</strong>sa, says the Arena usually calls 9-1-<br />
1 two or three times a month, especially<br />
during hockey se<strong>as</strong>on. In most c<strong>as</strong>es, an<br />
ambulance arrives in less than 15 minutes.<br />
In this specific c<strong>as</strong>e, he says, the delay e<strong>as</strong>ily<br />
exceeded 30 minutes. “I understand that<br />
the injury w<strong>as</strong>n’t an urgent situation, but<br />
the lady had dislocated her shoulder and we<br />
couldn’t move her off the ice,” he said. “She<br />
w<strong>as</strong> very cold…the ambulance should have<br />
come f<strong>as</strong>ter.”<br />
Bour<strong>as</strong>sa, who called Urgences Santé<br />
twice following the original 9-1-1 call, w<strong>as</strong><br />
frustrated about the paramedics’ slow pace.<br />
He even waited outside and flagged down<br />
the ambulance once he saw the vehicle<br />
approaching the arena. Unfortunately, the<br />
ambulance turned at another intersection.<br />
“I called back (9-1-1) to tell them that their<br />
truck had gotten lost, but they <strong>as</strong>sured me<br />
that the ambulance I w<strong>as</strong> talking about<br />
w<strong>as</strong> responding to another call,” Bour<strong>as</strong>sa<br />
explained. “If that w<strong>as</strong> the c<strong>as</strong>e, it must not<br />
have been a very urgent situation…the truck<br />
w<strong>as</strong> going very slowly, <strong>as</strong> if the driver w<strong>as</strong><br />
lost.”<br />
Regular skater Raymond Dagenais w<strong>as</strong><br />
clearly frustrated over the situation and estimated<br />
that it took the ambulance 40 minutes<br />
to arrive at the scene. He explained that<br />
he arrived at the arena a little after 3:30 p.m.,<br />
and when he left at 4:10 p.m. the ambulance<br />
had yet to arrive. “I and a lot of other people<br />
here were getting very angry,” Dagenais said.<br />
“We tried to cover her up with our jackets,<br />
we sympathized with her because it w<strong>as</strong> very<br />
cold…It’s unbelievable that it took so long<br />
for the ambulance to come.”<br />
Distance, weather, traffic<br />
all factors<br />
Champagne defends Urgences Santé’s<br />
response time and adds that although most<br />
calls are answered within the average time<br />
frame, some non-urgent calls may take longer.<br />
He explains that Urgences Santé uses<br />
the Clawson system, which allows for a<br />
rapid triage depending on the information<br />
provided by the caller. “It allows us to gage<br />
the degree of urgency and the need for rapid<br />
action in less than one minute,” Champagne<br />
explains. “Within 50 to 60 seconds, we can<br />
make a decision, decipher the problem, find<br />
the location and gage the urgency.”<br />
Calls are also prioritized. Priority One<br />
calls are answered immediately with<br />
sirens blaring. Priority Two calls must be<br />
answered in less than 10 minutes, and<br />
Priority Three require action in less than<br />
20 minutes. However, the response time<br />
may vary depending on the location, the<br />
weather, the time of the day and the density<br />
of population in a specific area. “We also<br />
resort to dynamic deployment, meaning<br />
an ambulance is always in strategic points<br />
and in movement,” Champagne explained.<br />
“However, these strategic points are more<br />
often than not in are<strong>as</strong> with a higher density<br />
of population.”<br />
Nonetheless, the people who witnessed<br />
the accident on January 12 remain perturbed<br />
over the delay it took for the ambulance<br />
to arrive at the scene. “We all kept<br />
saying ‘what if it had been something more<br />
serious?’” Law wondered. “We pay extra for<br />
the 911 service, if this is the way things work,<br />
what are we paying for?”<br />
Champagne explains that when an emergency<br />
situation occurs, time becomes precious.<br />
He says that Urgences Santé does<br />
whatever it can to answer in a timely manner.<br />
In 2004-2005, Urgences Santé received<br />
195 complaints, and only 16 per cent were<br />
related to the service offered. “That is a<br />
very low number, especially if you consider<br />
that we handle about 1,000 calls a day,”<br />
Champagne said.<br />
“We understand that when people get<br />
hurt, they want to wait <strong>as</strong> little <strong>as</strong> possible,”<br />
Champagne explained. “We understand<br />
what they’re going through, we don’t diminish<br />
their pain or their need, but priority<br />
takes over certain c<strong>as</strong>es, especially in fracture<br />
or non-fatal injuries.”