CORNWALL, Ontario – The Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus (EOWC) completed a report analyzing trends amongst paramedics services in Eastern Ontario over the course of four years.
According to the report, the Cornwall-SDG Paramedic Service saw 20,158 calls, an increase of 19.5 per cent in calls in 2018 compared to 2014. That number happens to be the lowest out of all 12 paramedic services of Eastern Ontario.
Requests for transport of patients also rose for the local paramedics. There were a total number of 12,940 transport cases in 2018, a 13.1 per cent increase from 2014.
Despite that increase in call volume, the Cornwall-SDG Paramedic Service was able to decrease its response time during the same period.
Response time fell to an average of 16 minutes 33 seconds, a decrease of 3.8 per cent when compared to 2014.
As for where these calls are coming from, the pick up location for Cornwall-SDG paramedics was in Cornwall or the United Counties of SD&G 97 per cent of the time.
The destination for these calls however was a little different. Cornwall and SD&G was the destination for the calls 86 per cent of the time, but the remaining 14 per cent of the calls were destined for Ottawa.
The duration of calls for Cornwall-SDG paramedics was an average of 1.18 hours, which was the approximate provincial average.
The 2018 operating budget for the Cornwall-SDG Paramedic Service was $14.8 million, which represented an average annual budget increase of 4.5 per cent.
