'We've got a bottleneck': ER congestion causing problems for Cupar EMS
Paramedics in small town Saskatchewan have warned that a lack of medical personnel in rural areas coupled with congestion in Regina emergency rooms is putting patients at risk.
This concern is being voiced in the community of Cupar, which has no doctor and no hope of getting one.
“The College [Saskatchewan College of Physicians and Surgeons] is not going to go for that because they discourage, I don’t even think you can be a rural solo practitioner any longer,” Cupar Mayor Val Orb told CTV News on Wednesday.
A community run ambulance service is the lifeline for emergency care in Cupar. However, the service can be tied up for hours with a patient at an emergency room in Regina due to offloading delays.
“We have to wait until there is an open room basically so we’re waiting eight hours sometimes,” Dustin Cappelle, an emergency worker in the community explained.
“I know there are lots of Regina units there as well but when we’re gone there’s nobody else out here so another town will have to cover our service.”
According to Steve Boha, the chair of the Cupar Ambulance Board, that simply shouldn’t happen.
“So I think we’ve got a bottleneck there that has to be looked at,” Boha said.
“You know let’s get our ambulances out [to] where they’re needed.”
The Saskatchewan NDP kicked off its “Healthcare Solutions Tour” on Wednesday. The first stop on the official opposition’s fact finding mission was Cupar.
“We learned a lot and certainly we’re just here to meet with these local leaders face to face, hear about their concerns,” NDP MLA and rural health critic Matt Love.
The challenges faced by rural ambulance services will be just one of the issues explored by the NDP on this fact finding mission.
The findings and the solutions offered will be forwarded to the government and made public at the end of the tour.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.