WHEREAS there was no evaluation of Medavie’s previous contract to provide ambulance services;
WHEREAS many paramedics are overworked, resulting in stress-related leaves of absence;
WHEREAS there is an ongoing shortage of 150 paramedics in New Brunswick with an additional 125 to 150 out on long term leave at any given time;
WHEREAS paramedics logged 216,000 hours of overtime, at a cost of $8 million, in 2017;
WHEREAS there were 7500 instances of ambulances being pulled off the road in 2017, a 55% increase over 2016;
WHEREAS there have been three deaths in northern New Brunswick, including two in Saint-Quentin, since August 2016 when ambulances have taken more than 20 minutes to arrive on scene;
The Motion urges the government to :
- Launch a public enquiry into ambulance services in New Brunswick;
- Immediately ensure that the number of ambulances per community is based on a community needs assessment;
- Immediately ensure that the deployment of ambulances be community-based not provincial in terms of territorial coverage.