Sherbrooke MNA Christine Labrie questions narrative
By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Local healthcare administrators are calling for improvements in the coordination of ambulance services at Sherbrooke’s Emergency Department. Recent discussions between CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS and the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) concluded that although there’s no need to amplify the number of ambulance services, there is a pressing need for quicker release of ambulances held at emergency centers. Christine Labrie, Sherbrooke MNA, questioned this narrative and the Health Minister recently at a meeting of the National Assembly.
This push for improved efficiency has received support from the Cooperative of Ambulance Workers of Estrie (CTAE), which has already partnered with healthcare facilities to devise potential solutions.
Insights from recent data analysis highlight that:
Ambulances in Sherbrooke have an overall utilization rate of 53.42 per cent, reflecting the time they are occupied with a call.
The availability rate for ambulances to attend to new calls stands at 46.6 per cent.
For high-risk cases, such as potential cardio-respiratory arrests and life-threatening situations, the average ambulance response time is just under 10 minutes. Moreover, in 65 per cent of these high-risk cases, ambulances reach patients in less than eight minutes
These figures make Sherbrooke an exemplar, said a press release, as its response times are notably quicker than the Quebec average of 12 minutes and 37 seconds.
Residents can access the detailed response times for ambulance services across all municipalities in Quebec via the MSSS dashboard.
