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A “code red alert” was issued for a portion of Monday meaning there were no transport ambulances available in Toronto, according to the paramedic union.
In a post just before 5 p.m. Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Toronto Paramedic Union said there was another code red alert for ambulances in the city.
The union said there was a call for an unconscious elderly person and the wait time was more than 28 minutes. A Peel Paramedics Services ambulance was called in to help.
“Stay safe,” the union tweeted.
This is not the first time the union has sounded the alarm about the lack of availability of ambulances.
Earlier this month, another code red alert was issued requesting help from surrounding paramedic services. There was a long queue of emergency calls and Toronto paramedics did not have available units to attend to them, the union said at the time.
Mike Merriman, paramedic services unit chair for CUPE Local 416, told Global News earlier this month that there was a backlog of calls and lack of resources and that it was “was not an anomaly.”
One emergency room physician responded to the tweet on Monday by the paramedic union.
“No hospital and community beds = admitted patients stuck in ER = no free ER beds = EMS cannot offload and end up stuck in ER hallways = no EMS crews able to attend new emergencies,” Raghu Venugopal wrote.
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