The entire healthcare system needs to be looked at in order to address the issue of offload delays at the province’s hospitals, according to the Paramedic Association.
An offload delay occurs when there isn’t a bed available in the ER for a patient, meaning paramedics have to stay with the person until one becomes available – effectively taking an ambulance off the road during that time.
President Rodney Gaudet says the root cause of the problem is “the entire system.”
Gaudet describes a trickle-down effect whereby if nursing home beds are full, that means some patients can’t be moved out of their hospital beds, which results in ER patients not being able to be moved which, in turn, results in offload delays.
Jerry Earle (VOCM News)
NAPE is the union that represents paramedics. President Jerry Earle agrees that there is a “domino effect” that results in offload delays.
He says there are a number of things that need to be done in the system, but it will all take time. In the interim, he says they need to make sure there are resources available to respond to calls.
