Alberta’s NDP is calling on the UCP government to address the ambulance crisis in the province..According to the NDP, there is a "skyrocketing increase" to the number of ambulances being pulled into Calgary from the surrounding communities of Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere, and Strathmore..According to Alberta Health Services (AHS) documents obtained by the Alberta NDP through a freedom of information request, ambulances in Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, and Strathmore have been dispatched to Calgary more than 30,000 times in the last three years..“If an Albertan is in distress of course the nearest available ambulance should respond immediately regardless of where that Albertan lives,” NDP Municipal Affairs Critic Joe Ceci said..“But the longer a community, such as Airdrie, is called on to divert its ambulances to other communities the greater risk there is an ambulance will not be able to arrive in its own community when needed.”.According to the AHS data, Airdrie ambulances responded in Calgary 2,772 times in 2019-20, but that number nearly tripled to 7,358 times in 2021-22. Cochrane ambulances responded in Calgary 1,007 times in 2019/20, increasing to 3,728 times in 2021/22..Chestermere sent ambulances to Calgary 1,017 times in 2019-20 and 1,653 times in 2021-22. Strathmore’s numbers skyrocketed from 857 ambulances responding in Calgary in 2019-20 to 3,159 being sent in 2022/23..“The trends we are seeing are distressing and must be a call for action. We do not need more reports and we do not need more committees. Albertans need this UCP government to listen to paramedics on the front lines and act,” said Ceci..Alberta’s NDP says it supports paramedics calling for three immediate actions:.Paramedics must get off shift on time. Exhaustion and burnout are decimating the numbers of EMS crews.All paramedics must be offered permanent full-time jobs instead of being forced into 89-day casual contracts with no benefits and no job security.The UCP must provide more harm reduction services to ease strain on ambulances. The drug poisoning crisis creates huge demand on ambulances and emergency rooms and this is preventable..Ceci noted Airdrie MLAs Angela Pitt and Peter Guthrie have not spoken about EMS service in their communities but are instead campaigning for UCP leadership candidates..According to Ceci, UCP leadership candidate Leela Aheer has not spoken about the impact of the EMS crisis on her constituents in Chestermere-Strathmore.
