The death of a senior citizen who waited 7 hours for an ambulance on Saturday is sparking outrage in Quebec, while paramedics are suffering from significant staffing shortages.
• Read more: She dies in front of her son after waiting for an ambulance at 7am in Montreal
If the shortage is crippling the medical workforce, Argens-Sande says, there can be no guarantee that an incident like the one that killed 91-year-old Thérèse Bardiak won’t happen again.
“We have no control over what happens, and unfortunately there is zero risk,” Stephen Smith, a spokesman for Argens-Sande, said in an interview.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure these situations don’t happen, and we’re paying more attention to emergency calls,” he continued.
“What happened this weekend was a very sad event, but I can’t guarantee 100% that there won’t be other events. But we’re doing everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Mr. Smith.
The pre-hospital union condemns the conditions under which its members have to work. However, as stipulated in the collective agreement, the union would have asked the assistants to take a meal break on Monday, which most did not allow themselves to do due to workload.
“I have to admit I’m worried,” said Claude LaMarche, executive director of the prehospital (SP-CSN).
“I am worried because I think the situation has reached an alarming level,” he noted.
