AI 4 - The Canadian Champion, Frday Aprit 20, 2007a No ambulances were available on one or two recent occasions -fromn OFFLOADING on page A3 just over an bour. On one or two occasions since December, no ambulances were available for emergency calîs, Sage explained. Last Friday, only one out of 13 ambulances were rcady for a caîl. Emergency plans are in place for situations like this, and include sending out emergency response units staffed by supervisors and managers until an ambulance is available. Vehicles from surrounding areas are also deployed, but they're frequently unable to help because of their own offloading delays, committee heard. Since 2001, Halton [MSs response time bas been below the mandated standard. Thse potential for delayed response times is senious, Sage said. "We know from researcb that a timely response bas a sig- nîficant impact on patient survival," Sage said. He told the Champion hes flot sure why thse delays start- s WinVacation Enter to wn a tto2tfn 20reland cou Ar Transattnd Torsnm reland . an $8À Or how about a SunqueN sacatk dit the show, we offer a chane toen a fabulous Sunquetsvacation fir A $1 0,000 alue plusloftsofothertrovel "Immeitfomw Our exhibtors are travel professonas wl maximize your nrasel epenience and yo lui "I find it incredible that a highly trained staff (member) is sitting waiting on a patient." ............... .................... CIL US ed in December, and that ats probably a combrnation of fac- tors including fuller hospitals due to the onset of flu season. In December, 825 hours of offload delay were recorded, wîth 812 hours in January, the report reads. "This amount of urne is equivalent to more than two ambulances being otui of service for an entire I 2-hour shift every day during the months of December and januar)y" i States. 2f OTravelSeminars: oitlesy o Make yor trasel exprence esen more enjoyable and ý,Ovaue. meanîingýllAttend àa einar1The shows sminar ion7 esfeatures Canadas leadng ttavel expirs Checik enter & Wn out the schedule at avelandliiuretliow cern Here are somne of the topiCS. Ipiizes .*Cruising 10 1 don: RomanticlItaly rowîl hdyne Summer in the Caibbean ur trasel dollar w Show Exdusive Deals: Save on travel t0 anme ofttie wodd's most popular destinations btought tn ynu by Canadas leadng tranel companies: simply escape oC NtORF CUISFS Plus ... plny Of others. Don't Plan aTnp Without Us. Ultinate Travel Show Hous: More lno, ist us online: Admission: Aduts $12. Fiday 10-6 Saturday 10-6, Sîînday 10-5 www.travelandleisureshow.com 50+ & students 8-15 $8. Kids under8FFre APRIL 20 - 22, 200 - INTERNATIONAL CENTRE - 6900 AIRPORI RD., MISSISSAUGA- FREE PARKING 973Arlaetut tr1RONfOUFE Mi-ùwr Mittlt >Ut)Icillot Li. 10l-i ',jl il tR 1I cerning. lI find it incredible that a highly trained staff (member) is sitting there waiting on a patient," hie said. lu ]anuary 2006, Health and Long-Terni Gare Minister George Smitherman announced an investment of $96 mil- lion to reduce such delays and wait times in emergency rooms. Regional Chairman Gary Carr said the back-up at hospi- taIs, which is affecting ambulances, is just one of the reasons why the Fairness for Halton campaign is s0 important. The initiative ais to raise awareness about tbe funds that will be needed to make way for the 300,000-plus residents the Provinces Places to Grow plan designates for Halton - funds thatîIl be particularly needed for area bospitals. 'Unless the Province addresses our concemns with the Places to Grow Plan, ofloading delays at hospitals will con- tinue to get worse witb our growing communities," Carr said. "We cannot bave a strain on the system as it is flot acceptable for our residents and tbese delays compromise tbe quality of life tbat Halton residents deserve and expect." Carr said the situation at Milton District Hospital is par- ticularly critical. He asked if offloading delays are worse at certain Halton hospîtals, and Sage replied tbat the delays at joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington are less frequent but longer than at tbe otbers. Delays stressful to [MS staff Not only arc offloading delays potentially dangerous to patients, they'also create a stressful environment for Halton [MS staff, wbo find tbemselves on the go pretty mucb their entîre 12-bour shift and wbo frequently miss meal breaks, Sage said. lu an effort t0 address tbe ofloading delays, regional councîl approved a motion Wednesday that caîls for Carr 10 write a letter to Smitberman asking for patient destination software to bie implemented at the Mississauga Central Ambulance Communications Centre. The City of Toronto EMS developed tbc software in 2004. It lets paramedics know whicb hospîtal is best to ofload patients, in turni avoiding many ambulances transporting patients to tbe samne bospîtal. "This software would be available to the Province from tbe City of Toronto ai no cost and would assist in alleviating some of tbe delay times," said Carr. "If thîs software assîsts us iu improving our services to our resîdeuts, its implemen- tation makes perlect sense and the Province sbould consider this. Sîephanie Thiessen can be reched at sthiessen@mniltoncaniîi dianchampion.tom. C E- WU I11O PRO, LEMSU 4 16.e 6,0 Ba*Ceit Yu*1 prv ! Imprt Divore _911 CaiToa -Div émm ! .' Grand 1 G L F CENT R q Fiv atO îton 1111 2çRFREE 2 of 1BUCKET CARDI ($50 VALUE) Upon presentatloii of thiS Coupon. Good for 2007 Seasn. - Visi ourwebste:WWw.grandslamgOlf.ca 7801 #5 Side Road (300 yards West of HWY 25) Miltoti 905.878.3290 -HourI: DaIIy 9:00 arn lIi duGli ----------- ~ ~ ~ ~.- --- - - - - - - -àA l ý - - 1 - d~mnquut deeeùe5C -ý M ---- mm ../-, iez .#£;