Urgences-santé rejects experienced paramedics and recent graduates without explanation, while dozens of workers are regularly missing on its territory, which covers Montreal and Laval. The organization denies “being choosy” about applications and emphasizes the importance of respecting its standards.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“We regret to inform you that your application has not been accepted”, can we read in a laconic email received in May by Ahmed, the fictitious first name of an ambulance driver who worked for more than 20 years in the region of Laurentians—Lanaudière. Like all the other rejected paramedics who spoke with The Press for this article, Ahmed requested anonymity so as not to harm his career.
“I did the entire process, then I was refused without giving me any explanation,” he says indignantly. A process that spans several weeks and includes two interviews, psychometric tests, a medical examination and a drug test.
” No return “
“I have no feedback from human resources after multiple attempts by email, by phone, I have no response from them as to why I was not selected,” he continues, discouraged.
“There are no details on the reason,” confirms Urgences-santé spokesperson Benoit Garneau. “They have to work through all the things they have to do with the process,” he says, adding that candidates are welcome to reapply within a year.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MATHIEU GOYER
Mathieu Goyer
I don’t understand that they can’t even give at least one reason for the paramedic to improve, correct their shortcomings, and then to the limit [postuler de nouveau] in a year.
Mathieu Goyer, VP labor relations at the Syndicat du préhospitalier which represents the paramedics of Urgences-santé
And Ahmed is not the only one in this situation. The Press spoke with three experienced paramedics and a recent graduate who were refused a position at Urgences-santé without receiving an explanation.
However, Urgences-santé regularly lacks personnel to fill all its shifts, and the situation is particularly acute at night and on weekends. During a weekend at the end of May, The Press reported that more than half of the scheduled ambulances were missing due to a lack of available employees.
The fact that it is so understaffed at night may force Urgences-santé to prioritize urgent calls to the detriment of those for whom there does not appear to be an imminent danger to life.
And this weekend again, almost all shifts will be marked by absences. During the night from Sunday to Monday, no less than 38 paramedics will be missing out of the 98 who should be on duty, according to Mr. Garneau, a situation representative of the last few weeks.
“Our goal this year is to hire more than 100 paramedics, but I don’t think that will be achievable because there is a shortage of people coming out of school,” said another door. -speech in May, also pointing to the lack of manpower.
Graduated and rejected
However, Simon, a paramedic who graduated this spring from Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, also saw his application rejected by Urgences-santé in May without the organization explaining the reasons. Fortunately for him, he was able to find a position in another region without any problem.
“Why is this workforce not good for Urgences-santé, but good for [Services préhospitaliers Laurentides—Lanaudière] or for the South Shore? asks Mr. Goyer, from the union.
Yasmine and Pierre, paramedics with respectively more than five and more than ten years of experience, also applied to Urgences-santé recently, without success.
Both wanted to be closer to their home, but had to fall back on another job when their applications were rejected – again without reason.
” I was [persuadée] that the process was going well, to finally receive a short email of two or three lines telling me that they were not taking my application,” laments Yasmine. She says she contacted the organization three times to get feedback to improve her candidacy, without success.
Mr. Garneau, of Urgences-santé, says the organization rejected 16 applications in 2022, including 11 due to failure somewhere in the recruitment process and five who were not qualified for the job. ‘to initiate. “We don’t be choosy about the people we want to hire,” he says. There are minimum standards that people must meet […], our mission is to save lives. »
“It’s disappointing, drop Ahmed. Meanwhile, there are shifts that are empty […], then I am ready to work. »