Alberta Health Services says it has started an “immediate review” of the EMS response to a fatal dog attack that occurred in northwest Calgary on Sunday afternoon.
Police have said the victim, an 86-year-old woman, was found in the 1500 block of 21 Avenue N.W. at about 2 p.m.
She was attacked by three of her neighbour’s dogs and was transported to hospital but later died from her injuries.
“This is a tragic event, and our deepest condolences are with the family and friends of this individual,” AHS said in a statement to Global News on Monday.
The health authority added that its team is reaching out to the family of the victim, not only to share condolences but also to “discuss the response directly.”
“EMS responded to this call in approximately 30 minutes. This is longer than we expect and is outside of our target response times.”
AHS noted that EMS was facing challenges related to an extremely high volume of calls at the time of the incident, meaning there were no ambulances immediately available.
“We are grateful to the paramedics who treated the patient at the scene, as well as first responder partners at the Calgary Fire Department and the Calgary police department,” AHS said.
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