The paramedics in the Waterloo region say that resources begin to meet the demand for our service. “

It only took a few years ago when paramedics in the Waterloo region had the alarm about the revision and no necessary resources to effectively do their work, but lately they say that there is hope.

At the end of 2022 Waterloo region experienced weekly code -Red events, which means that no ambulance were available to react to emergency calls.

This was caused by a variety of factors, including understaffed, duration times in hospitals and the overall increase in service issue, which was asked by the Covid 19 pandemic.

John Riches is the head of the paramedic services in the Waterloo region region. He says things look much better.

“In 2022 we were a bit of abyss where yes, investments were made, but the number of code -zero or code -red events was still significant,” said Riches.

“What we see now after 2024 and now see it in 2025 is that the number of resources we have are able to meet the demand for our service.”

Although Code -Red, now known as a code -zeros, still take place from time to time, it is far from the severity that it was during the highlight of the pandemic.

In 2022, Waterloo Region had 210 code -red events of around 76 hours, according to the power measurements in the region from this year.

A strong difference compared to the update of 2024 published in September, which indicates that about 14 hours were spent in Code Red.

Riches attributes a large part of the improved metrics in the region of the Waterloo Council, which support an expansion for paramedic services.

As early as September 2023, it was announced that local paramedics services would receive 4.4 million US dollars to hire more employees.

The region also received another 1.65 million US dollar from the province for a certain offload medical nurse program.

“During the Peak mission, we now have 40 resources for employees on the street and overnight to 20, obviously because the call to call decreases overnight while people are sleeping.”

As a result, emergency times have also improved.

On average, regional paramedics reacted to calls within nine minutes and six seconds in 2024. That is 22 seconds faster than 2023 when they reacted within nine minutes and 28 seconds.

“We sometimes see that the response times in rural townships are extended because there is a broad geography and it takes longer to get calls,” said Riches.

Listen | Local paramedics see a reduction in the ambulance delays:

Hospital delays

Although there is still ambulance, the occupancy rate of hospitals remains long, although Riches says that they lose weight considerably.

The discharging period refers to the period when paramedics arrive in the emergency room and ends when his patient is put in a bed and the care is handed over to the worker.

From June 2024, the paramedic services had lost an average of 47 hours over a period of 12 months due to the delays in the exemption. This corresponds to almost four, 12-hour ambulance layers a day.

“I think the biggest change that I saw in the region in the two years is that our hospital partners are fully invested and are involved in managerial managers to improve the workload of the ambulance in the emergency room,” said Riches.

“It is no longer just a problem with the emergency room with which you can ask the entire hospital to support the work. This type of Buy-in-in-Zur solution was probably the biggest thing that has improved the duration times of the ambulance.”

Burn out and exhaustion

Since the working conditions for paramedics continue to improve because the resources become more accessible, employees also feel the advantages.

During the pandemic, there were many reports across the country of the paramedics who felt burned out and exhausted from the requirements of their work.

According to Riches, there are signs that his doctors slowly but surely recover.

“You work in really challenging circumstances, in unusual situations in which the environment can be insecure and you do a great job every day,” he said.

“I definitely hear from paramedics that you have no breaks. We also see a reduced end of the shift surplus, which is also an indicator that we have the availability of resources so that we can move out our paramedics in good time.”

While these factors show a trend in the right direction, Nick Descloud says that they are not yet out of the water.

“Mental health is still something for which we have to really work,” said the President of Cupe Local 5191, the union, which represents the paramedics of the Waterloo region.

Descloud is also a paramedic.

“The career is difficult, so we support each other in the workplace and not every day when we appear to work, this overwhelming volume. It will definitely help to improve it,” he added.

The Region of Waterloo Mediff has a 10-year master plan that describes investments within this period. The current plan runs at the end of 2027.

“Things have changed so much from the growth of pandemic and population, which leads to an increase in 911 calls,” said Riches.

“We are concerned with a new development of the master plan and as soon as this master plan is accepted and approved by the Council, this would take over for the current master plan and begin in 2026 to 2035.”

During this period, the Waterloo region plans to open a new hospital on the University of Waterloo campus. Something that wealth says would be a big change in relation to the paramedics that paramedics can deliver to the residents.