The number of “code zero” incidents — in which no ambulances are available to respond to emergency calls — is on the rise across Ontario, according to a new report.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 5,500 paramedics and dispatchers in Ontario, examined records obtained under Freedom-of-Information requests from 22 regions across the province and said “the resulting statistical portrait is cause for deep concern.”

Lead researcher Chandra Pasma said two issues are causing the shortage: more calls and longer “off-load delays,” when paramedics are required to wait with patients for hospital care.

“Rising call volume, an aging population, and the failure to meet growing demand with additional resources all lead to periods of time when ambulances and paramedics are simply not available,” Pasma said.

“Without concrete steps to address these pressures, the system will continue to be in crisis.”

CUPE is calling on the Ontario government to boost funding for emergency medical services as well as for hospitals and health programs.

“The research bears out what medics have been saying on the ground for many years. There simply aren’t enough ambulances and paramedics to meet rising demand,” said Jason Fraser, who is head of CUPE’s ambulance committee. “It is reasonable for people to wonder whether an ambulance will be available when they need one.”

CUPE’s research found that in 2018, among just six municipal emergency services, there were 2,409 times when coverage was at a critically low level. Among those, 1,062 cases saw one or no ambulances available.

Health Minister Christine Elliott told the legislature on Wednesday that “patient safety is our top priority, and we are working with emergency services to provide better services to Ontarians, improving the dispatch system so that emergency services can get to patients faster.”

Elliott said consultations are being held with public health units and paramedics “to make sure that we can enhance the services and better the quality of services available to all Ontarians.”

But New Democrat MPP Jeff Burch, his party’s municipal affairs critic, blamed both the Conservatives and the previous Liberal government for the problem.

“Because of years of frozen health budgets under the Liberal government, there are more and more hospital off-load delays while emergency calls skyrocket,” Burch said in the legislature on Wednesday.

“Instead of providing the necessary funding to fix Ontario’s emergency services, the Ford government is busy looking for ways to cut.”

Ottawa MPP Joel Harden noted that in Ottawa this week, 19 ambulance crews couldn’t get to emergency calls because they were waiting with patients in hospital.

“This puts Ontarians at risk. Increasingly, when they call 911 the risk is very real there will be no ambulances available,” said Harden, who represents Ottawa Centre.

Elliott said “the situation in Ottawa, I know, is particularly of concern. We want to make sure that we can have the right people responding to care at the right time. We have put over $60 million to assist municipalities with funding for dedicated nurses to receive ambulance patients and return paramedics to the community faster.”

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She also said the issue exacerbates “hallway health care,” which the government has pledged to end.

“We are working very hard to make sure that our paramedics can be back out on the road doing the services that they are intended to do while we are still able to safely receive patients into the emergency departments in the hospital,” Elliott said. “It is something we are actively working on now.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the government must invest more in all areas of health.

“A lot of paramedics are telling me that part of the challenge they’re facing is they’re getting calls for things like people who should be getting mental health supports in the community ... but they have no other place to go,” Schreiner said.

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