(Montreal) According to the Federation of Paramedic Cooperatives of Quebec (FCPQ), better management of paramedics’ working hours would help resolve part of the problem of ambulance delays.
Philip Girouard, president of the FCPQ, recognizes that response times are a source of anxiety for families who request help. “Even if many of the elements causing response delays result directly from the deployment plan, we make a point of being in solutions mode to improve the situation in the regions where we operate,” he indicated in a press release published on Saturday. What we propose to improve response times has already been presented to the public authorities concerned. »
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Philip Girouard reveals some of the solutions that were sent in September to the pre-hospital emergency services directorate of the Ministry of Health and Social Services. The president of the FCPQ initially expected a response in December. “But we expect a response in April. But I will not hide from you that I am afraid of the answer that could be given to us at that moment,” he said.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services did not respond to our request for an interview on this subject on Saturday.
Stabilize working hours
Among the solutions proposed, the FCPQ wishes to ensure predictability of paramedics’ shifts, so that the hours that are added on an ad hoc basis are stabilized.
“What we find deplorable is that this list of one-off hours is recurring and is never added to the deployment plan. So it’s us who have to juggle this kind of dynamic,” explains Mr. Girouard.
The addition of additional teams is, for example, planned when there are hospital transfers between regions that must be made. This can result in paramedics being called in at the last minute to work a shift, causing delays.
“Why are these hours not immediately included in the basic plan for dynamic deployment?” asks Philip Girouard. We are making requests, we want to alleviate working conditions. But something we don’t control is fixed hours. It’s an issue every day. »
According to the FCPQ, this solution would help paramedics’ work-family balance, by minimizing impromptu call-ups to work. In the long term, it is indicated that this could limit the risk of professional burnout among paramedics.
Another solution that could minimize response times, according to the federation, is the addition of rapid intervention vehicles. A paramedic could thus administer first aid quickly, while waiting for the ambulance to arrive at the scene of the intervention. “The patient would be a winner,” explains Mr. Girouard.
“We propose solutions and we don’t feel listened to, that’s what makes it heavy,” he laments.
A huge bureaucracy
The FCPQ brings together paramedic cooperatives in Quebec, which employ 1,500 paramedics and provide more than 200,000 transports annually, which would be equivalent to 37% of all prehospital transports in Quebec.
According to Philip Girouard, a “huge bureaucracy” prevents the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, and the FCPQ from being able to discuss possible solutions. “I would be curious to hear Mr. Dubé’s solutions, I would like him to listen to mine too and to be able to have the chance to sit down with him,” he says.
“We are not in confrontation mode. We want to know what’s going on on their side and we want to work as a team,” adds the man who is himself a paramedic.
The seven cooperatives of the FCPQ serve more than three million Quebecers.