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23 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,January 17,2019 w aterloochronicle.ca 519-747-2708 1-888-851-8999 call us or order online... -2708 save your gas save your time save your back FREE water softener inspection! WE DELIVER - FILL UP - FOLLOW UP FREE BUY 5 BAGSOFSOFTENER SALT RECEIVE YOUR CHOICE RECEIVE 1 FREE BAG JET BLUE ICE FIGHTER $20 VALUE 1 BAG OF SOFTENER SALT 1 BAG OF ICE SALT SALT DELIVERY TO YOUR WATER SOFTENER C O U P O N C O U P O N www.riepertsalt.com LTAS EHOICR COUEIVE YREC C O U P O N C O U P O N BUY 10 BAGS OF SOFTENER SALT WITH COUPON. NOT TO BE COMBINED WITH OTHER OFFERS OR DISCOUNTS PLEASE MENTION COUPON OFFER WHEN ORDERING WITH COUPON. NOT TO BE COMBINED WITH OTHER OFFERS OR DISCOUNTS PLEASE MENTION COUPON OFFER WHEN ORDERING OR 2019 NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN Visit canadianimmigrant.ca/rbctop25 NOMINATE SOMEONE TODAY! Do you know an inspiring immigrant who has made a positive impact in Canada? Recognize and celebrate their achievements by nominating them for this coveted national award by Feb 27, 2019. Title sponsor: Presented by: Media sponsors: increases to code yellow - in- stances when there are three or less ambulances available - and code red - times when there are no am- bulances available. For 2017, 0.6 per cent of time - the equivalent of 2.3 days - was spent in code red, which was the same as in 2016. End-of-year numbers for 2018 still aren't available, however call volume growth and off-load delays have been outpacing the re- gion's ability to gain ground over code reds and yellows, the budget paper sets out. It goes on to warn that not ap- proving the additional staff will challenge the service's ability to meet response time targets, and increased call volumes will drive code yellow and code red num- bers even higher. The 52,771 vehicle re- sponses by the region's paramedic service in 2017 represents the highest an- nual total to date. Call vol- umes have grown by over 30 per cent since 2008 and grew by another 3.1 % during the first six months of 2018. Chief Stephen VanVal- kenburg expects the overall increase for 2018 will be more than four per cent and attributes much of it to an aging population. Overall response time has de- creased slightly by maxi- mizing efficiency in the de- ployment plan but can only temporarily be maintained as call volume and off-load delays at local hospitals continue to escalate. VanValkenburg has de- scribed off-load delays as a "flow-through issue" within hospitals where they can't get the patients out of the emergency department up on to the floor or discharged home, thereby creating log- jams as the paramedic must stay with the patient. The region's paramedic service currently sits at 23 vehicles at maximum staff- ing during the day, so add- ing two more 12-hour shifts would bring that number to 25, VanValkenburg said. The budget request also includes one full-time logis- tics supervisor and one full- time fleet support position to accommodate the servic- es' new north headquarters and ambulance base in Wa- terloo, which is expected to create deployment efficiencies. The current staffing complement for paramedic services sits at around 220. All said, the extra bodies and ambulances would add about $1 million to the tax levy - a 0.17% increase for the average property tax payer, as the province sub- sidizes paramedics to the tune of 50%, Strickland ex- plained. The gross operat- ing expenditure for para- medic services for 2018 was $33.9 million, with $16.5 mil- lion net to the tax levy. "We need to add resources but we also need to look at different way to see what's going on and where we have to apply the money to help solve the problem, because clearly, spending another $10 mil- lion dollars over four years has not solved our off-load delay problem," Strickland said. "If we really want to solve this issue, we need to have a comprehensive, inte- grated approach with our Paramedic Services, the three local area hospitals and the Local Health Inte- gration Network," he said, adding that it really comes down to an issue of hospital beds and staffing. CALL VOLUMES HAVE GROWN MORE THAN 30 PER CENT SINCE 2008 NEWS Continued from page 3 STORY BEHIND THE STORY Additional resources in recent years haven't reduced Code Red - time when there's no ambulance available. THE ISSUE: CALL VOLUME IS OUTPACING THE MASTER PLAN FOR PARAMEDIC SERVICES AS OFF-LOAD DELAYS AT HOSPITALS CONTINUE TO ESCALATE. LOCAL IMPACT: ADDITIONAL STAFF AND VEHICLES ARE NEEDED IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET TO HELP MEET RESPONSE TIME TARGETS. "I think we need to find more resources and spend more dollars. My concern is it's not solving the problem." - Sean Strickland, Region of Waterloo Budget Chair Local journalism makes a difference. Support us by registering at waterloochronicle.ca