Superior North EMS is going to City Council to try and get more ambulances on the road.
Council’s agenda for Monday night includes a motion to increase the amount of ambulances and paramedics on the road.
Chief of the Superior North EMS Wayne Gates states what he is hoping for during Monday’s meeting.
“The expansion I’m looking at, currently we have what we call two eight-hour cars that only run five days a week,” explains Gates. “One car does a Monday to Friday shift while the other car car does an evening shift of Tuesday to Saturday. My ask with council is I’m looking to expand those cars into a 12-hour shift that will run seven days a week.”
The Chief says even as we see COVID-19 ease up, they are still seeing a high demand for paramedics.
“Because of our aging population, we always have known that will be a driver [of 911 calls],” says Gates. “On top of that now, we’re being hit with the addiction and mental health challenges that we’re having in our communities as well.”
As of July 23rd, there have been 14 fatal overdoses in Thunder Bay.
Superior North EMS has also been seeing an increase in Code Black situations, where there are no available paramedics to respond to 911 calls.
With so many calls being time sensitive, Gates emphasizes it’s a major issue.
His request would add four more paramedics to the service.
