The union, which represents many emergency services personnel, including paramedics, is calling for changes in the road ambulance system in order to improve wait times.

NAPE President Jerry Earle says ambulance crews spend a lot of their time inside the emergency ward waiting for a patient to be seen. When the ER in question is on wheels, as those departments often are, ambulance crews can be held up for some time says Earle.

Speaking on the Tim Powers Show on VOCM, Earle was reacting to an Access to Information request made by the Telegram which found that the average response time was 26 minutes, but the wait in some places, such as Terrenceville on the Burin Peninsula, was over an hour.

Also problematic, according to Earle, is non-emergent load-drops at hospitals.

There were times last week when there were seven ambulances parked outside the Health Sciences because the patient was waiting in a stretcher, says Earle. He says there should be some type of intermediary facility for them so that the crew in question can get back on the road quickly.