# Response times



## mariomike (27 Jul 2012)

Regarding "Two dead, 22 injured in Toronto shooting" in "Canadian Politics".

My ( delayed ) reply concerns operations, not politics. So, I am posting it in Emergency Services.   



			
				JorgSlice said:
			
		

> Can't say for much in Toronto, but here in BC I see it all the time. Paramedics out here get paid "$X/hr" (possibly about 12 or 15/hr) when on standby, then it jumps to around $30 or $30/hr when they receive a call. They continue to get paid with this "Call rate" until the patient has been brought to hospital, triaged, and the Paramedics radio in that they're cleared from that call.



T-EMS has always been a "career" department. IE: No part-timers. No volunteers. 
All paramedics are on permanent full-time salary. They work 20 twelve-hour shifts every six weeks. There is no "call rate".



			
				JorgSlice said:
			
		

> You should see the number of paramedics out here that take their sweet arse time to do anything, just so they can get paid more. Also, they stand around in the triage area or the ambulance holding area for up to hours even, doing nothing, their patient was transferred into hospital care and they're good to go back out... but they stand there and draw as much money as they can out of the system. I'm not painting them all with the same brush, there are many good, honest and hard-working paramedics... but some... are not.
> 
> Ever wonder why it takes so long for an ambulance to show up? Here's part of the answer.



I believe the situation you describe at BCAS is not what happens in Toronto. 

The reason is in the Standard Operating Procedures:

1) "When you arrive at the hospital you will be on the ‘CLRING’ channel."

2) "When your stretcher is clear at the hospital, notify the Clearing Co-ordinator then switch back to the OPS zone and notify your dispatcher on your quadrant channel."

3) "Upon receipt of any emergency call, while in a station, hospital, or other facility, the ambulance crew will update their status, electronically and by voice, and be mobile to the call within sixty ( 60 ) seconds."


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