{"id":363738,"date":"2025-12-23T12:21:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/363738\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T12:21:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:21:22","slug":"edmonton-paramedics-exhausted-amid-long-response-times-fewer-staff-its-heartbreaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/363738\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton paramedics exhausted amid long response times, fewer staff: \u2018It\u2019s heartbreaking\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Edmonton paramedic is speaking out \u2014 and not just anonymously. Alex Robb says he\u2019s noticed ambulance wait times increasing and more patients seeking care.<\/p>\n

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It comes at a time when the union representing paramedics in Alberta says retention of staff is a major issue.<\/p>\n

Robb has worked as an advanced care paramedic in Edmonton for the past 10 years and says he\u2019s reaching a breaking point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working within the rubble of what used to be a health-care system, essentially.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like other paramedics, Robb works 12-hour shifts. Although lately, he says those shifts are turning into 13 or 14-hour days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not uncommon that you\u2019ll be driving lights and sirens in one direction, you have to turn around, drive lights and sirens in the other direction, turn around again,\u201d Robb said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can be zipping all over the place, and this whole time, you\u2019re seeing all these different people who are asking for help and waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:03
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta announces plans to add ambulances and paramedics to help improve EMS response times\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

With the busy shifts, Robb says patients are seeing massive delays after they call 911. The wait times are having a big impact on not only those seeking care, but also the paramedics treating them.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think people become paramedics because they want to help others, and right now, we really feel like the system isn\u2019t being set up to put us in the best position to help people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exhausting \u2014 it\u2019s heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acute Care Alberta says many initiatives are underway to improve EHS response times in the province.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, dedicated ambulances have been added in Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer to manage the transfer of patients who do not require emergency care between health facilities. This will allow emergency ambulances to remain in their communities to respond to emergency calls,\u201d read a statement.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTo address delays in EHS patient handoff, AHS implemented the 45-minute Return to Service target. The goal is to return ambulances to the community within 45 minutes of arriving at the emergency department to ensure crews are ready to respond to emergency calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:46
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta to use shuttles, taxis to transport some patients in effort to improve EMS\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tNicki Minaj praises \u2018handsome\u2019 Donald Trump at Turning Point USA event\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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The union representing paramedics says this is not a new problem. It\u2019s been calling for more resources for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re running units in the City of Edmonton or Calgary at 50 per cent capacity because we don\u2019t have the people. It wipes out those that are left behind,\u201d said Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA).<\/p>\n

The province says it\u2019s working on the systemic issues, but points out it is respiratory illness season.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026which can lead to delays for EHS to quickly transition patients to the emergency department. However, we work together to ensure that patients always receive the care they need,\u201d said Acute Care Alberta.<\/p>\n

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But Parker says the struggles are year-round and it\u2019s hurting recruitment and retention efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t even keep the ones that we have. So our members are stepping away to change \u2014 not just their career, their entire life. They\u2019re walking away from health care,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

For Robb, he\u2019s trying to stay optimistic about his work, but it\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you already have a health-care system that\u2019s basically a house of cards, it doesn\u2019t take much to topple it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:06
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta\u2019s plan to increase access to health care \u2018doomed to fail,\u2019 critics say\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Edmonton paramedic is speaking out \u2014 and not just anonymously. Alex Robb says he\u2019s noticed ambulance wait…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[156195,118258,49,48,156194,84,49468,156196,44],"class_list":["post-363738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-acute-care-alberta","tag-alberta-health-care","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton-paramedics","tag-health","tag-health-sciences-association-of-alberta","tag-hsaa","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}