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But the program could work better, Longeway said.

The paramedic service says is on pace this year to match – or even surpass – the number of ambulance hours lost due to offload delays in 2017, a record-setting year for the organization.

During the first three months of 2019, the paramedic service estimates it has lost the equivalent of 77 days of ambulance service while paramedics were waiting for patient transfers.

Offload delays cost the paramedic service an estimated $125,000 a month.

But more important is the impact the delays are having on service coverage, Longeway said.

He said paramedics are seeing an increase in the number of “code critical” coverage events – when there are only three ambulances available for service – and “code zero” coverage events – when there are no ambulances available – in London.

This forces the paramedic service to pull ambulances from surrounding municipalities to support operations in the city, affecting coverage in rural Middlesex County.

St. Joseph’s Healthcare hospital in Hamilton has a fit to sit program and it is providing feedback to both the paramedic service and LHSC on their experience with the initiative.

Since its implementation last June, the hospital has seen an overall reduction in offload delays without it affecting the well-being of patients, said Donna Johnson, director of emergency services at the hospital.

An average of three patients out of the 45 they see every day meet the criteria set by St. Joseph’s and are taken directly to the waiting room. Their criteria include patients with a low score in the Canadian triage assessment scale, are fully conscious, can stand and sit, their vital signs are stable and are clothed appropriately to be in a waiting room.