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Edmonton suffers ambulance crunch 0 n( S* d. }7 L& ^1 n
Last updated Jan 31 2006 08:26 AM MST- }, U4 A2 c" c2 A( P! c
CBC News
( s' g. }1 c( dThere's been a big jump in the number of "red alerts" in Edmonton this year.0 h$ S. U- l1 t
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"Red alert" is the Emergency Medical Services term for the situation when there are no available ambulances in the entire city.. q2 w' U o& {4 |4 T; p! [# m
" F8 v/ y% N- g) f, BLast 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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7 W; p1 o1 e# aRandy Littlechild, head of the union that represents paramedics, says things are getting worse.
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6 \- ?# o- t$ h' p( X1 s* ~4 O' o"We're doing everything we can, but the system is falling apart – really and truly – it's not working," Littlechild says. " N# e1 B1 u, e
, [8 B/ q9 K& k' }0 R5 JHe says it has come to the point where there has to be an increase of rooms and beds in Edmonton hospitals.2 F) ^; `4 ~& J4 O9 m9 y, v5 T; T+ @
- K. e6 N, O) ]" [: K/ ^: WCapital Health says it will look into making changes to that part of the system. |
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