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Edmonton suffers ambulance crunch ) X8 W( r' [! U- a( {
Last updated Jan 31 2006 08:26 AM MST
$ ^4 Z+ M( ^7 o7 @! k( oCBC News
: ^! J7 ?! G. h7 }& c0 w8 g9 R8 I' XThere's been a big jump in the number of "red alerts" in Edmonton this year.
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"Red alert" is the Emergency Medical Services term for the situation when there are no available ambulances in the entire city.5 M6 q# {& Y7 O) S
6 K' s% q5 J5 `. z5 d" E. w( n% W5 Y2 cLast 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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5 B1 O2 j) x' O Q1 z& R9 Y. T2 oEMS says there were 36 red alerts last year, and nine so far this year – including two Monday afternoon.% T" m1 l% ]& @/ z, X \/ D3 F. V+ @
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Randy Littlechild, head of the union that represents paramedics, says things are getting worse." q+ h0 b* ]! L9 O
, l; I1 a/ e/ d+ O0 t; y: \"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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4 d# H3 }- k. T6 t- cHe says it has come to the point where there has to be an increase of rooms and beds in Edmonton hospitals.) z8 y% c$ [" K1 q
m q: {9 e! T1 L- L* v( G( dCapital Health says it will look into making changes to that part of the system. |
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