Ambulance dispatchers at the Hamilton communications centre are speaking out about traumatic injuries they say were caused by electrical shocks at their workplace.

They're also complaining that their employer — the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care — isn't addressing serious safety problems.

Workers at the central ambulance centre on Fennell Avenue called a news conference Wednesday to tell the public that nine dispatchers had been injured by shocks since October 2015.

Rebecca Bell said she has post-concussion syndrome after receiving a shock through her headset Oct. 17.

Bell said she was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where doctors found entry and exit burns on her body, adding a concussion has robbed her of short-term memory.

"I can't be around bright lights. I can't be around loud noise. I can't watch movies or look at screens, and I can't remember the most basic things. Like how to open my iPad or what my bank pin code is, or to pick my children up from school."

Health ministry spokesperson David Jensen said in an email to The Spectator that "static has been identified as the cause of these shocks."

Moreover, said Jansen, the Ministry of Labour is satisfied with safety measures — including technical upgrades and providing staff with protective gear — the Ministry of Health has taken to reduce static levels.

Coworkers Teresa Adams and Emilie Lowther recounted injuries they say they suffered Oct. 14.

"We were working and, all of a sudden, we heard a noise and I suddenly had a lot of pain in my head."

"I was in extreme pain from October to January or February, when I saw the neurologist and he was able to give me some medication to try to manage the pain."

Adams said she has since been diagnosed with "trigeminal neuralgia," a chronic pain condition affecting the nerve carrying sensation from the face to the brain.

Lowther, who was pregnant at the time, said she was thrown from her chair by a burst of noise and electricity.

"I felt like I got kicked in my chest."

An ambulance took her to the hospital where Lowther said she was told she'd had "a bit of a cardiac event."

The injuries have angered supervisor Cindy Falcao, who says the ministry put in a humidifier and made other minor changes.

But then a week ago, another dispatcher was injured, Falcao said.

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The dispatcher injured this time "can't even lift his head off his pillow, he's so disoriented."

That latest incident is under investigation, Jensen said.

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) president Warren (Smokey) Thomas said the news conference was aimed to "shame the government into fixing the problem."

Thomas said the issue dates back to 2013, when an addition was built and the centre's 56 dispatchers were relocated there.

He blamed faulty workmanship that caused flooding and raw sewage under the addition to compromise the electrical system.

"We believe the fundamental problem is under the floor where all these work stations are."

Falcao contends the public is also at risk because dispatchers have lost about 200 emergency 911 calls due to the problem.