Mayor's Report
Council works to ensure ambulance service
By Marolyn Morrison

On Jan. 9, we had our first council meeting of our newly elected council. There were various issues discussed that impacted all wards within The Town of Caledon. It was a delight to have all of the Councillors interact and debate the issues at the council table.

We dealt with planning, public works and engineering, recreation and financial issues. Near the end of the council meeting we always have the item of council inquiries. This allows councillors to bring forward concerns that they have on any municipal matter.

During this time, Councillor deBoer asked the question about the ambulance service provided in Caledon, as he recently had a resident bring forward a concern regarding the response time of our ambulances.

Our ambulance service is dispatched through a provincially controlled dispatch system. It has been brought to my attention, that there have been times when the Town of Caledon does not physically have an ambulance within our geographical boundaries. It has been explained to me that the reason for this is because the provincial dispatch system has called them into other areas of Peel, York, Dufferin, Wellington or Halton. It is important to note that this is not a regular occurrence but I want to ensure that it never happens.

We also have the problem, which all ambulance providers have, of off-load times at the hospitals. All too often, our paramedics are left waiting at the hospitals to off-load the patient. This sometimes can take hours before the paramedic is back in the ambulance providing their service to our residents. This is a province-wide problem and the Region of Peel has spent a fair amount of time dealing with the provincial government over this issue. We have come up with some solutions, but the province must also be part of the solution.

As soon as this matter was brought to my attention, I have been working with Peel Region's Emergency Services to correct this matter. Actions have been taken to rectify the situation, however, I have put forward to the Region that we should take over the dispatch of Ambulances for Peel. The second recommendation that I have put forward to Emergency Services at the Region is to make Caledon an area that must have at least one ambulance within its boarders at all times.

I will continue to work closely and aggressively with the Region of Peel Ambulance Service to make sure that Caledon residents have the services hat they need in emergency situations. I will keep you posted on our progress. Regional staff are well aware of our concerns and are trying to address them in a speedy manner.

We have a very competent, well trained volunteer fire department that usually is the first to arrive to a call and has advanced First Aid training. We have an ambulance service that has highly trained paramedics that can stabilize patients and transport them to the necessary medical facility. We will continue to work on this and keep you updated.