Ambulance ‘ red alerts’ on rise, NDP charges
NDP Leader Rachel Notley lambasted the Progressive Conservatives Wednesday for “skyrocketing” delays in ambulance services.
Records obtained under Alberta’s freedom- of- information law show a “staggering rise” in ambulance red alerts in both Edmonton and Calgary — periods of time during which there are no ambulances available to help people in crisis.
“The bottlenecks in our hospitals have led to a skyrocketing number of red alerts,” Notley said outside the emergency room at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. “Maybe Jim Prentice and the PCs think it’s OK to leave families without access to ambulance services, but skyrocketing red alerts simply are not acceptable to me.”
In Edmonton, the amount of time ambulances spend in red alert has increased more than 2,000 per cent the past two years, Notley said.
In December 2012, city ambulances spent a total of 36 minutes in red alert, or 1.2 minutes a day. In December 2014, ambulances spent 13 hours and 14 minutes in red alert, nearly 30 minutes a day.
In Calgary, the number of red alerts climbed from five in the final quarter of 2012 to 27 in the final quarter of 2014, a 540- per- cent increase. “The PC government kept these numbers secret,” Notley said. “They want to keep Albertans in the dark about the true state of our health- care system.”
Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Prentice said his party is aware of the problem and working to fix it. “My understanding is that we’re starting to see substantial improvements already,” Prentice said.