The emergency room at the Victoria Hospital is seeing lower volumes according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Dropping numbers

Emergency services see changes due to COVID-19 outbreak

Apr 6, 2020 | 5:14 PM

Prince Albert area paramedics are seeing fewer calls and the emergency room at the Victoria Hospital are seeing less people coming through their doors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parkland Ambulance responded to over 50 calls for assistance this past weekend, and according to Director of Public Affairs Lyle Karasiuk is lower than what they normally see.

“On an average weekend our paramedics would generally see over 100 calls,” he said.

In regards to specific calls, Karasiuk said they are not having to attend to as many vehicle collisions, or slip and falls. Parkland is also not doing as many inter facility transfers. Karasiuk said the drop off in calls can be traced to people implementing the advice of public health officials and staying at home.

While overall call numbers are down, Karasiuk said paramedics have been getting more calls relating to people dealing with shortness of breath. He explained these calls are to be related to the coronavirus.

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“Sometimes they’ll call because they have limited access to health care facilities, so they might not have access to public transportation, they might be already in self isolation,” he said.

In terms of staffing, Parkland has not seen any of their medics have to go into isolation as a result of the virus. Karasiuk said they did have staff self-isolating earlier in the month as they had returned from travelling outside of Canada.

To help protect paramedics, Karasiuk said their dispatchers are asking people if they have any symptoms related to the virus. This allows the attending team to better prepare. Karasiuk added Parkland’s COVID-19 preparations are underway and working.

“Our team is healthy and well and we’re hoping that during this pandemic we can certainly do our very best to keep it that way,” he said.

In an email to paNOW, Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) Media Relations Specialist Amanda Purcell wrote the emergency room at the Victoria Hospital is seeing some similar changes.

“I can tell you that the emergency department at the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert is experiencing lower than normal volumes at this time,” she wrote.

Purcell said people who have a medical emergency are still encouraged to come to the emergency room or call 911. She added there are precautions taken to protect patients when people show up with respiratory symptoms in line with COVID-19.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn