Hamilton’s 10-year paramedic master plan highlights more staff, more space

Hamilton Paramedic Service (HPS) will soon be addressing a need for more space and more first responders following the city’s approval of a strategy to operate more efficiently over the next decade.

During a session on Wednesday, councillors gave the thumbs up to the first-ever 10-year paramedic master plan that seeks to transform how the service conducts business to better serve the community.

Chief Michael Sanderson says ultimately the changes will allow the service to respond to local life-threatening emergencies within 10 minutes 90 per cent of the time — something expected by residents according to a 2018 city survey.

“I think its important for us to understand that 94 per cent of those surveyed expected a response time for life-threatening emergencies of 10 minutes or less,” Sanderson told city councillors.

The paramedics boss says they’ve been falling just short of that and he expects between 2,600 and 6,200 more calls annually between now and 2031, representing about a 3.3 per cent growth per year on average.

Using data from the master plan, by 2031, HPS will be dealing with 124,000 responses per year compared to the current 90,000.

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Part of the requirements to improve response times will be 25 additional full-time staff to work at peak times, as well as a new facility for an ‘operational hub’ and renovations at Station 30 on Victoria Avenue North, which Sanderson says needs urgent repairs.

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A review of spaces within Hamilton Fire Department stations across the city revealed little space and many current paramedic service stations are at or over capacity.

“There are six spare ambulances that are parked outside of Station 30 and they should be inside,” Sanderson remarked.

“We can’t have the contents in them while they’re parked outside and that means we can’t activate them quickly in the event of an emergency or a major event.”

The 2022 gross operating budget for HPS is approximately $65 million, supporting 420 staff out of 18 locations.

That budget is shared evenly with the Ontario government for approved land ambulance costs.

Funding requests are set to be incorporated into the city’s annual capital and operating budget processes for approval each year.

Sanderson says the plan should be considered a baseline to be regularly reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

A refresh was recommended at the five-year mark to adjusted HPS activities as needed.