The MHA for Ferryland has introduced a petition in the House of Assembly asking to have two ambulances reinstated in Trepassey, a two hour drive from St. John’s.

Loyola O’Driscoll says in June Eastern Health repositioned one of two ambulances based in Trepassey to Cape Broyle, leaving just one ambulance available for the remote southern Avalon region.

O’Driscoll says when he found out about the move he contacted the minister responsible who referenced the declining population and a drop in the number of calls for ambulance services.

He argues the area’s distance from the nearest hospital has to be taken into consideration.

O’Driscoll says by the time the ambulance gets to the patient, there’s another two hour drive to the Health Sciences. He recounted a recent incident in which an ambulance arrived to pick up a patient, but had to wait to determine whether the patient had COVID-19. It was another several hours before it was determined that the patient was negative and was taken to St. John’s. He says that left the entire region without an available ambulance for 8 to 10 hours, something he calls “unacceptable.”