The CUPE Ambulance Committee of Ontario (CACO) has recently heard that the provincial government is intending to resume their consultations about the ‘modernization’ of emergency health services very soon.
In 2019 the Conservative government announcement a plan to collapse the 52 land ambulance services and the 22 dispatch centres to 10 regional units each. The emergency situation with COVID-19 put a pause on those consultations in March 2020. Read the CACO submission to the emergency health services ‘modernization’ consultations here.
We are conducting a membership in survey in September 2021 as a primary way to gather information about your work experiences in advance of the province’s resumption of consultations.
The survey results will help form a CACO campaign in Fall 2021 to demand that the province invest more in EMS and increase the capacity our services to respond to the untenable situation that we have been facing for years. The total volume of emergency calls in Ontario is rising while we face severe fatigue, stress, illness, and overwork on a day-to-day basis.
We need to send a strong message that the province cannot move forward with their plans for ‘modernization’ without addressing the multiple crises of understaffing and under-resourced hospitals, dispatch centres, and land ambulance services.
You can access the survey here. The information gathered in this survey is anonymous and your response will not be shared with your employer. It should take 10-15 minutes to complete. Participants can opt-in to enter a draw to win a free iPad!
