Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Mark Quin: Ambulance Association National Secretary says people are frustrated by longer wait times for ambulences

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Mark Quin: Ambulance Association National Secretary says people are frustrated by longer wait times for ambulences · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Saint John's one on one service has broken its daily
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: call record three times. In the last week. Saturday they
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: had two five hundred and sixty two calls. The normal
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: average is nineteen hundred. We're declaring a major incident. This
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: is related to winter, seasonal illness, influenza, respiratory illness. These
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: are the things that drive our demand. Mark quinn is
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  Speaker 1: Ambulance Association National secretary with me this morning. Mark, good morning,
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  Speaker 1: Good morning. So people are calling in because they've got
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: colds or it was something more serious. What is driving it?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, it's across the board. Obviously the winter staff, particularly
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  Speaker 2: last week, has driven another amount of winter illnesses to
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: get to this point. But it is across the board,
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  Speaker 2: plus increasing medical calls on top of any accidents. But yeah,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: there is, It's right across the board. But yes, certainly
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  Speaker 2: the winter illnesses and flus have have also significantly contributing
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: to the increasing calls.
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  Speaker 1: In Mark, is there any you know what percentage of
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  Speaker 1: the callers you get to actually need an ambulance. Is
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  Speaker 1: there an increase in those or is it genuine illness?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the data suggests has been overseas and in New
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  Speaker 2: Zealan and showing that you know, the lowercurity calls are
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  Speaker 2: sitting around eighty percent, maybe a little bit higher at times,
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  Speaker 2: and obviously there's an increase in the callouts again coming
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  Speaker 2: in winter with the flues, but it's insane that mixed
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  Speaker 2: up in there, there's quite significant serious medical presentations.
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  Speaker 1: So eighty percent you're saying are probably not requiring an ambulance.
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, This is the hard part is that the
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  Speaker 2: pro QA system that is used to triarge the cause
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  Speaker 2: as they come in, and that uses common words like
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: shortness of breath and chest pain, So that can relate
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  Speaker 2: to anything from a chest infection as you can imagine,
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  Speaker 2: because people will experience those those right through to having
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  Speaker 2: a genuine heart attack for instance. So that when the
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: call goes comes in and triage to that system obviously
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  Speaker 2: responds under a red would probably likely put it under
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  Speaker 2: a red call, and that would determine the response to
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  Speaker 2: the endlance, which would be under lights and sirens. So
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  Speaker 2: this is the trouble with the triogys is not to
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  Speaker 2: downplay people's illnesses or need for an amblance, but certainly
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  Speaker 2: there is a need for There is other pathways to address,
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  Speaker 2: but those pathways have been overloaded as well as well
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  Speaker 2: been well documented.
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  Speaker 1: What about violent people, you know, when the paramedics turn up.
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  Speaker 1: I was listening to Saint John yesterday. They said they've
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  Speaker 1: been told if someone is violent or someone is agitated,
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  Speaker 1: you don't actually have to treat them. That happening a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Well, there's been well documented over a number of years,
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  Speaker 2: and there has increased certainly arriving at the scenes and
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  Speaker 2: then been presented or been a threatened even burbly or
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  Speaker 2: physically with violence. And that's been occurring anyway on top
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  Speaker 2: of it. And I suppose that the delay and ambulances
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  Speaker 2: which has occurred, particularly believe in the last forty eight hours,
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  Speaker 2: that only increases the frustration. So you can imagine that
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  Speaker 2: well not appropriate people are voicing their you know, how
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: they're feeling about the significant delay and getting an amblance
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  Speaker 2: to them.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: All right, got you, Mark, appreciate your time this morning.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Mark Quinn, Ambulance Association National Secretary. For more
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: from earlier edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to news
• 3:43
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