Paramedic deployment in the City and District of Thunder Bay is dynamic, with resources fluctuating so to best meet demand. As demand waxes and wanes, so do levels of paramedic deployment. During peak demand periods there are nine ambulances in the City of Thunder Bay. In the quiet hours of the early mornings, there are a minimum of five ambulances. Paramedics respond to emergency calls from five stations:
- Junot St HQ
- Downtown South
- Westfort
- Northwood
Additionally, paramedics may respond to emergency calls while “mobile” or from other places such as the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre or the Thunder Bay airport. Paramedics also perform emergency and non-emergency inter-facility patient transportation in the City.
Paramedics respond to emergency calls throughout the District as well. There are 14 stations located in 14 communities. Some communities have no EMS station, but every person in the District of Thunder Bay receives EMS service. From these 14 stations, District paramedics work a mix of scheduling, including both “on-site” and “on-call” duty time. When “on-call”, usually at night, paramedics carry a pager and respond to calls by attending to the respective EMS station from home or elsewhere. They must remain fit to report to duty within 8 minutes driving time at all times when “on-call”.
The deployment plan provides for the provision of emergency and non-emergency inter-facility patient transportation to and from Thunder Bay. Because communities with an EMS station have only one ambulance, there are times when those paramedics are not immediately available. Such “down staffing” also occurs because of paramedic replacement challenges due to injury, illness, or longer than usual work periods. Because paramedics work a 24 hour shift, there are times when they must receive rest, and thus are removed from the deployment plan. In every case, however, 9-1-1 calls are responded to by paramedics.
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