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Edmonton suffers ambulance crunch
1 ?/ c- |+ N, p; a1 E9 Z! |Last updated Jan 31 2006 08:26 AM MST% O) L+ r9 ^7 u' b7 K
CBC News
3 x' P7 m& D: T8 n7 OThere's been a big jump in the number of "red alerts" in Edmonton this year.
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; w% q1 ]. v, t"Red alert" is the Emergency Medical Services term for the situation when there are no available ambulances in the entire city.( A6 y. u, U7 P1 V+ F
3 i A b7 W; HLast 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.
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EMS says there were 36 red alerts last year, and nine so far this year – including two Monday afternoon.' o2 K% F0 w/ |! ?
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Randy Littlechild, head of the union that represents paramedics, says things are getting worse.
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# Y% u% r6 l1 P& `6 a"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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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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Capital Health says it will look into making changes to that part of the system. |
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