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Edmonton suffers ambulance crunch
, q! v* C: h% q% ~+ a' o" B9 Y E7 bLast updated Jan 31 2006 08:26 AM MST! C, [: |+ a$ D0 U6 |2 o
CBC News 0 R) @& y6 g* ]) v: X
There's been a big jump in the number of "red alerts" in Edmonton this year.7 O1 |1 u( ^. n1 g, B0 ^
" S! I7 o" W, L8 f2 I G0 i"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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( R# v, N8 P# k7 }. g6 o0 h& vLast 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.1 n3 M4 T( [; h) h
/ g' t, p8 l" X% c/ rEMS says there were 36 red alerts last year, and nine so far this year – including two Monday afternoon.! G6 h( [. \+ z, e
8 S% F1 d7 @0 V: C( lRandy Littlechild, head of the union that represents paramedics, says things are getting worse.
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1 U, @, s' @* V. U h" p" o"We're doing everything we can, but the system is falling apart – really and truly – it's not working," Littlechild says.
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~" ~4 u- X+ y: `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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3 n1 G: @- a) u" PCapital Health says it will look into making changes to that part of the system. |
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