Milton councillor Rick Malboeuf has raised concerns about emergency response delays following two incidents he deemed "unacceptable."
One involved a senior doctor who waited 20 minutes for paramedics after suffering a minor heart attack and a fall. In another, a young boy with a head injury was ultimately driven to the hospital by his parents after apparently being told an ambulance could take up to an hour.
“You can get a pizza delivered in Milton quicker than you can get an ambulance,” Malbouef said at the Halton regional council meeting Wednesday (Oct. 23). “Milton deserves better for our emergency services.”
He expressed hope that the new Halton Paramedic Services master plan — approved by council in September — would help improve services.
In Halton, 911 calls for paramedics are first answered by Halton Regional Police, then routed to the Mississauga Central Ambulance Communications Centre, where ministry staff triage each call using a medically validated priority dispatch system — according to Greg Sage, chief of Halton Paramedic Services.
Sage acknowledged that “the system is very complex and there's a multitude of factors that influence response times.”
While the chief couldn’t comment on the specifics of the two calls due to privacy considerations and ongoing review, he noted systemic challenges such as demand surges and staff shortages that affect response times.
“I do want to reassure you that the tool that the communications officers are using is used worldwide. It's medically validated, and it's been proven to be safe. Again, our quality processes are robust, and if we're identifying issues with things, we can make modifications along the way,” he said.
He added that staffing requirements for paramedic services will be a priority in the upcoming budget discussions, with additional resources planned to address current needs and projected demands over the next decade.
According to the master plan, an additional 1,400 hours of ambulance staffing per week and 32 non-paramedic full-time positions will be required to meet the demand by 2034.
At the meeting, council approved a recommendation to advance the “hub and spoke” model, which includes the construction of a new headquarters in Oakville, a hub in Halton Hills and community stations in each Halton municipality.