Paramedics denounced Monday the new government directive requiring them to remain available after the end of their shift, until their return to the barracks.
“We have just reached a critical point where instead of solving problems, we are still putting pressure on paramedics. Now we are forcing [paramédics] in Montreal and Laval to remain available after their shifts,” said Jean Gagnon, representative of the prehospital sector of the FSSS-CSN, at a press conference Monday morning.
The new directive, which came into force on December 12, requires paramedics to remain available after their shift, until their return to the barracks, for priority 0 calls, which are the most urgent. “For the last 30 or 35 years, it was something that did not exist in Montreal. We finished our shifts, went to the barracks and left the vehicle with a fresh team again,” says Claude Lamarche, president of the Prehospital Union of Montreal and Laval.
In the last week, at least two teams were called to respond to a call after the end of their shift, says Mr. Lamarche. “You never know what time you’re going to get home. It has made it unbearable for people in the sector,” says Mr. Gagnon. A paramedic with 12 years of experience left her position this week. “She resigned because she couldn’t stand not being able to get to the daycare to pick up her children,” said Mr. Lamarche.
Paramedics have been deploring their working conditions and work overload for many years. “We are not able to bring enough people into the profession and we are also not able to keep enough people to respond to the increase in calls in the pre-hospital environment,” said Mr. Gagnon.
Contaminated material
According to the new ministerial directive, paramedics outside of Montreal and Laval must be available for a new call to a hospital center, even if their equipment is not decontaminated or ready for a new intervention.
“You can imagine all the dangers that this can bring for paramedics and for the patient,” says the vice-president of information, mobilization and union life of the Union of Paramedics and Prehospital Workers of Montérégie-CSN, Mathieu Lacombe.
These new protocols illustrate the extent to which the ministry is disconnected from the pre-hospital system, believes Mr. Lacombe. “His only objective is to try to improve the statistics, to get better numbers, but the only way he has found is to put pressure on the paramedics. This is not the right method,” he says.
“The ministerial decisions that are currently being made have a significant financial cost in terms of additional time,” adds Lucie Longchamps, vice-president of the FSSS-CSN. Urgence-santé paramedics have worked more than 240,000 overtime hours since 1er January, while those of the Cooperative of Ambulance Technicians of Montérégie (CETAM) are working more than 4,200 overtime hours.