Liberal candidate for Yarmouth, Zach Churchill is commenting on a CBC report of a Dartmouth man who waited three hours for an ambulance before being taken to hospital by police.
Churchill explains why the man had to wait so long for service.
“Ambulances were tied up in the offload wait time,” says Churchill. “There was a backlog in offloads in the city that contributed to this.”
He also offered solutions to the larger coverage issues.
File Photo – NS Government
“We have resources going into supporting our offloads so ambulances can get back on the road,” says Churchill. “Taking away the non-emergency transportation that ambulances do, looking at using other vehicles to bring patients who aren’t in an urgent situation home from hospital or between hospitals.”
When asked what this situation means for rural wait times, Churchill says when ambulances are tied up in one region, they’re brought in from others to respond.
Churchill offered his sympathies to the man and his family.
The other major political parties have previously announced their plans to address wait times for ambulances.
The NDP have said they plan to open more Collaborative Emergency Centers, which they say will bring emergency care closer to more people and keep more ambulances on the road.
The PC party have said they will build capacity in the system and reduce offload times in the Hope For Health plan, to free up paramedics and ambulances.
