Frontenac Paramedics used moving trucks for training due to shortage of spare ambulances

Frontenac Paramedics are so strapped for spare ambulances that some crews have been forced to delay starting their shifts until a vehicle becomes available, and new staff had to be trained by driving rented moving trucks.

A report by Frontenac Paramedics Chief Mark Goudie laid out the issue ahead of Wednesday's Frontenac County council meeting, where councillors voted in favour of allowing the service to keep two of its ambulances beyond their normal lifespan in order to help address the shortage.

The report states that since 2020, the waiting period between purchasing an ambulance and receiving delivery has risen sharply, and so has the cost.

New vehicles now cost approximately $260,000 — a 40 per cent jump since 2018 — and can take anywhere from 18 months to two years to arrive, the chief wrote.

Meanwhile, in order to meet strict Ministry of Health standards, ambulances must be taken out of service for regular maintenance. That has become a challenge given the scarcity of spares, according to Goudie.

Delayed starts, unusual training

Any extra vehicles are often already in service while front-line vehicles are in the shop, he explained in the report.

"Not only does this have a significant impact on our ability to maintain the fleet but also puts our ability to respond to the community at risk," Goudie wrote. "There is little surge capacity built into our system to be able to adequately respond in the event of a major incident requiring more Paramedic resources to be deployed rapidly."

The impact is already being felt, with increasing periods when there are no usable spare ambulances available, the chief said.

"This has resulted in paramedic crews not having vehicles to book into, and having to delay shift starts until a vehicle is available," his report states. "During the most recent orientations, we did not have sufficient spare vehicle to train our new Paramedics in. They needed to use rented moving vehicles for driver training."

Coun. Judy Greenwood-Speers described those issues as "very distressing" as new paramedics are required to complete specific training.

"How they can meet the standards of training by driving a larger moving vehicle?" she asked in a phone interview with CBC after the meeting. "When I saw that, I thought, this is not good."

The head of the paramedics' union said he shares some of those concerns as there are significant differences between ambulances and moving trucks, particularly when it comes to weight, handling and the layout of the cab.

However, OPSEU Local 462 president Andrew Gagnon added recruits also get gradual on-the-road training behind the wheel of an ambulance while under supervision.

6 spares now available

In response to questions from councillors, Frontenac Paramedics Deputy Chief of Operations Dean Popov, said while the patient compartments typically have a lifespan of 12 years, the "nuts and bolts" components of the vehicles usually last about six years.

Over that time, the typical ambulance racks up more than 250,000 kilometres and spends an equivalent amount of time in park with its engine running, he explained.

Keeping ambulances beyond that end date won't put the service in any regulatory trouble, said Popov, though older vehicles tend to incur more maintenance costs.

Adding two more spares will increase the number of reserve vehicles from four to six. Goudie writes that keeping the vehicles beyond their typical lifespan will provide a short-term solution.

The costs will include roughly $5,000 for insurance and licensing, with an estimated annual maintenance cost of $6,000 per vehicle.

The report predicts an operating cost of $4,000 through the rest of 2025, with another $11,000 per vehicle anticipated in 2026.

Gagnon, the union president, said a short-term solution will only get the service so far.

"If an ambulance service is adequately funded, they would have a number of spare vehicles that was appropriate for the service," he said, adding the current support from council is "only a shred of what we need."