Risky Business is an investigative documentary I produced in 2009 for CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition. It explores disturbing practices occurring within Ontario’s unregulated for-profit non-emergency patient transfer industry.
Each week, thousands of patients within hospital and long-term care facilities are transfered using these vehicles.
Individual hospitals, which are ultimately responsible for the safety of patients admitted to their facilities, sign contracts with the companies that provide these services. It is unclear whether or not hospitals are aware of the kinds of practices that are occurring within this industry. All hospitals contacted during the production of this documentary refused to grant me an interview regarding this industry.
If my interview with Ontario Hospital Association CEO Tom Closson, which appears at the end of Risky Business, is any indication, it would appear that they neither know, nor care, what Ontario patients are being exposed to aboard these vehicles.
Closson’s positive view of this industry may be informed by that of his vice president of policy and public affairs, Anthony Dale, who served as an advisor to former Ontario premier Mike Harris and his government’s ministers of health. Under Harris, the Ambulance Act was changed so that hospitals were required to enlist the services of private services to move patients who were considered to be in stable condition, therefor setting the stage for a rapid expansion of the private patient transfer industry.
These services have never been regulated by the provincial ministry of health, despite repeated calls to do so from the Auditor General and an independent review of the services commissioned by former minister of health Tony Clement (see here and here and here).
As you will hear in my story, patients are frequently exposed to infectious patients transported alongside them inside these vehicles, by staff who have no training in infection control precautions. Patients who require oxygen during transport are not receiving it, sometimes resulting in catastrophic effects on their health. Workers within this industry who express concern to their dispatch operators about their patients’ safety are routinely suspended or fired.
Unlike EMS ambulances, which are staffed with fully trained and certified paramedics, these companies are not required by the Ministry of Health of Ontario to meet basic minimum requirements in training or ability. It is the only ministry of health in the country that does not regulate these services.
Click the Play button directly below to hear Risky Business. If you have already heard it and wish to hear OHA President Tom Closson’s comments, click Play, wait a minute or two for it to download, and then click your cursor towards the end of the item. The interview can be found with about 3:15 remaining in the player.
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I am continuing to report on this industry, and will be posting additional experiences of workers and patients in the coming weeks, as well as more from my interview with OHA President and CEO Tom Closson. Read the OHA’s 2004 position paper on this industry here.
It’s interesting to note that Ontario minister of health Deb Matthews, who maintains that the ministry is satisfied that the needs of patients are being met by these services, was a member of the 2005 Standing Committee on Acute Transfers that backed the Auditor General’s calls to regulate the industry. The Standing Committee’s primary recommendation was that the MOHLTC report to the standing committee on Public Accounts on the development of standards for non-ambulance medical transport services. The standing committee asked that the report address passenger safety, and cost-effectiveness measures for the scheduled transfer of non-emergency patients. No such standards have been developed, nor, based on feedback from Minister Matthews’ office, are they likely to be developed under her direction.
If you’re a healthcare professional, hospital or nursing home administrator, a patient or former patient, or a current or former employee of this industry I would welcome hearing about your experiences. If you are concerned about coming forward, I can offer anonymity to individuals who have concerns with regards to privacy and employment security.
I am particularly interested in connecting with patients and their families who are currently in a hospital setting and are being transported via these private services.
If you would like to be notified of updates posted to my website on this story, you can subscribe to the RSS feed from my homepage, or you can email me at tpittaway AT sympatico DOT ca, and I will add you to my email list.
CD versions of Risky Business are available for purchase. Please email me for details.
M Trodd, EMS Chief Timiskaming District EMS
As you stated the IBI Study looked at this issue in depth and made several reccomendation regarding non-emergency transportation. However those that made presentations to the IBI group have not heard about the details of the report and the MOHLTC has apparently sat on the findings and the reccomendations, Why?
Could it be that the reccomendations were too expensive to enforce,?
The ambulance act is in place to protect the citizens of Ontario, so why not continue to protect Ontario residents with a similar standard for these companies.
EMS in Ontario is over stressed and is called upon regularly to transport non emergent patients around the clock, not a good use of tax dollars for high paid paramedics to transport patients for appointments and routine doctor visits. EMS Supports the use of these companies but they need standards and certification in order to offer their services. After all each ambulance services in Ontario is certified and routinely inspected and reviewed to assure the safety of our patients. Why not ensure the safety of our patients in any conveyance intended for medical transportation, why the double standard?
Chief Trodd,
The Ministry of Health under Tony Clement did indeed bury the report. It was made available shortly thereafter by a Freedom of Information request. I was able to see a copy of this report, and while I can’t say exactly why the MOH buried this report, the recommendations would indeed have been costly to apply.
I look forward to hearing from the Ministry of Health with their reaction to the findings of my report. They have been warned repeatedly about the potential for harm within this industry. Now that this “potential” for harm is indeed a daily reality for the thousands of patients who are moved throughout the system aboard these vehicles it will be interesting to see how the Ministry responds.
Tina,
I would like to say that I really appreciated your radio interview with former Ambutrans Employees and Dave Allen. I am a current employee of Ambutrans and would like to state for the record that all of their trucks are not fit to be on the road let alone carrying patients. As well, dispatch will use scare tactics and open ended threats to bully employees to do calls that are not safe. I would be more then happy to share more with you, but for the time being all I have left to say is WOW! I wouldn’t trust my own loved ones in the back of our trucks.
Hello Tina
I had the opportunity to read the transcripts from your investigative documentary called Risky Business . I will comment on a few of the issues brought forward. Let me start by saying that I am not only the owner of Platinum Patient Transfer Service but I am also a Advanced Care Paramedic with The greater City of Sudbury. I know about patient care procedure(s) and I know about liability. On numerous occasions you comment that this Industry is non regulated. This industry is regulated, Regulated by the institutions you are contracted to provide the service for. The Sudbury Regional Hospital clearly identifies the criteria necessary for their contracted non urgent provider.I believe this documentation is readily available for you viewing
Sudbury Regional Hospital has included all the criteria regulations and level of certification in their contract and prior to awarding the contract has ensured that the successful party meets all of the necessary criteria as specifically outlined in the contract . At any given point in time a Manager with the Sudbury Regional Hospital could request to do a ride out with a non urgent vehicle and do a random inspection . I noted that you commented on some concerns regarding infectious disease processes . Platinum PTS specifically states that a patient will remain in isolation throughout the transfer from one institution to another . This is a question that is asked at the initial time of booking when there is a request made for transportation “is this patient under isolation precautions”. You also make mention that a distraught mother tapped on the window to one of the two men sitting in the front of the Ambulance who she assumed were Paramedics. My response “what were they doing sitting in front of the vehicle with a patient on board” why were they not in the back assisting with patient care and assisting with the equipment located in the back of their ambulance ? A few other points that I feel require clarification Patient Transfer attendant requires a criminal record check and a drivers abstract once/year . They must have a record of a of their inoculations/vaccinations and a required to have the same level as paramedics in Ontario. In summary I would like to say that this industry is regulated, regulated by the hospitals that contract the non urgent patient transfer service. They must look at their providers and access liability /risk associated with each individual service provider. It may be that the hospital utilizing the service of the provider mentioned in your article have not practiced due diligence or they were not aware of the current practice of this service provider. It could be that you have some disgruntled workers who are utilizing this vehicle to get even with their previous employer who knows I would caution that painting all companies in this industry with the same brush would be an inaccurate representation of an efficient effective and safe practice that exists, at least in Northern Ontario, were it is not all about money
Hi Scott,
Thanks for your comments. In my piece I make reference to the fact that the *Ministry of Health* does not regulate this industry. When I stated there were no regulations, it was in reference to Ministry of Health standards. Obviously these companies fall under Ministry of transport regulations like any industry with vehicles, as well as Ministry of Labour regulations. I realize that some municipalities have created regulations in the absence of provincial legislation, and that some hospitals have set standards within their contracts. But that is a far cry form hospitals “regulating” these companies.
And while the expectations of care may be known to the administrators who make up these contracts, they have frankly done a lousy job of communicating the difference in the services to their medical staff – nurses and doctors alike, not to mention patients. I have spoken with many doctors and nurses who were unaware of the differences in the services. If they don’t know, that’s a problem.
I’d be curious to know how many managers with Sudbury Regional Hospital have taken advantage of the opportunity to ride along in a surprise inspection, as would other visitors to this forum. Please share your company’s experience in this regard as I have had several notes from people in Sudbury following my interview with the local station there, and they are curious to know more about the services you provide, and what kind of oversight is happening in the area.
While I can’t speak to the effectiveness of Platinum’s precautions with regards to the movement of infectious patients, I do know that in all of the companies that I looked into (there were three that I investigated), none were following proper infectious control precautions, and all were doubling up on transfers – loading vehicles with infected patients alongside patients who were infection free. I can’t imagine their contracts say they’ll be doing this, so I can only assume the hospitals either don’t know or don’t care that this is occurring.
I totally agree with you in terms of the situation Kathleen Goldhar described with regard to the workers sitting up front. It is appalling. I’d like to know what they were doing up front as well, but did not have a chance to ask Dave Allin that as I only heard of Kathleen’s story after I had already interviewed him. I’
What is truly troublesome for EMS workers is the fact that Kathleen continued to believe for years that these men were trained paramedics, up until I explained the differences in the services to her two weeks ago, when she was interviewed for this story. It is outrageous that these workers mimic paramedics in any way possible, except on the skills front. This industry is a holding bay of sorts for individuals trying to break into EMS, and as a result some workers in this industry are trained and EMCA-certified paramedics. While none of the workers I interviewed for my story were EMCA-certified paramedics, they all spoke incredibly well of the paramedics within their ranks who were trying, seemingly in vain, to demonstrate proper procedures to the untrained staff they worked alongside. The industry is full of many well-meaning workers who are punished for advocating for their patient’s safety. It is repugnant beyond measure.
In terms of criminal checks and inoculation records, there are no provincially legislated requirements in this regard. This industry has no requirements for criminal background checks, which, given the fact that workers are alone with children, and in patient’s private rooms and residences, is alarming to say the least. Hospitals may include that in their contracts, but since no hospital has bellied up to the bar to show me their contracts, I won’t take it at face value that they are requiring this.
While certain municipalities have introduced regulations, there is no seamless regulation province-wide. So while services may be performing better than others in some areas of the province, there is no guarantee that a patient being dropped at the doors of the Sudbury Regional Hospital by a service from outside their boundaries has not been shuttled by a service that has atrocious “standards” on board. God knows what infectious viruses they are dragging across municipal boundaries.
The Ontario Hospital Association, of which the Sudbury Regional Hospital is a member of, has been calling on the Ministry of Health to regulate this industry for many years. Perhaps one day their hopes will be realized, so it is not left to individual hospitals to try to police on their own, which clearly, based on my research of the last year, they have failed at miserably.
As an employee of a transfer service, I can attest to the strict rules that have been implemented upon us by our regional hospital and our employer. I had to offer up a criminal record check, a vehicle abstract, an immunization record (including the latest H1N1 vaccine). We have a strict set of rules we follow when transfering patients under isolation precautions, we decontaminate our equipement after they’ve been used. And, I have brough quite a few hospital staff along with me on transfers.
I understand that there could be services that are lax in these areas, but putting all transfer services under the same umbrella is unfair to some.
Thank you for bringing to light some of the issues surrounding private transfer services. This is an industry that desperately needs regulation. I feel you made a clear distinction between properly trained Paramedics versus the employees of these companies. As a Paramedic for fifteen years, (even) I thought your report was very enlightening, and I welcome the distinctions you have made.
Patient Transfer Companies are necessary and take the burden off of EMS and Paramedic services all over Ontario… however, as a working Paramedic who used to work for a PTS, I know that many people would identify themselves as Paramedics even though they had not completed nor enrolled in a college Paramedic program. We were constantly mistaken for trained medical professionals by the similar uniforms and vehicles we drove. They must be completely regulated in terms of skills, and their identity to the public. I consistantly had to explain the difference of what we do and what trained EMS personnel could do… and many people just didn’t get it due to the striking similarities (uniform, stethoscope around the neck, vehicle) and this MUST be changed.
DAVE ALLEN is lying. He should have dared you to find a truck WITHOUT working air conditioning, because that would be easier to find than one WITH functional A/C.
AmbuTrans is abusing employees and patients alike. It’s a horrible injustice, but I guess, like everything else, nothing will be done, until something terrible happens..
Wow. Good work Tina!
As an employee of a transfer service in SW Ont. I was shocked to hear the story of little Nathan and his mother being in the back of the transfer vehical un attendend. That should never have happend! As above mentioned by Josee, i also had to offer up a criminal record check, a vehicle abstract, an immunization record, including the latest H1N1 vaccine. 90% of my Co-workers are either graduated paramedic’s or student’s in the program. The other 10% are required to have EFR (Emergency First Responder) or EMR (Emergency Medical Responder) certification. I have no complaint’s about my company. My employer goes above and beyond to meet all regulations. As above mentioned by other’s it is not fair to paint all Patient Transfer Services in the same picture. Thankyou for letting us reply to your post Tina.
As an ex-employee of Ambutrans, I can testify to many horrible experiences that put both the patients and my co-workers at risk. Our concerns were brought to Mr Allen’s attention several times, he said he would address them, and never did. Evey word out his mouth during this interview was a lie. If I got one truck a month that had A/C, I would consider myself lucky.
The fact that Dave forced Tina to change the subject when it came to the issue of pedi-mates, saying it was patient confidentiality? What did that mean? Whether or not he would provide the appropriate equipment for staff, has nothing to do with patient confidentiality.
I am sure that there are many other PTS that are legite, and I sure wish I had worked for one of them over Ambutrans. But keeping in mind that I have classmates who are working at other PTS (besides Ambutrans) and they have very similar issues and concerns.
Everything Karl and Melissa said during the interview is absolutley ture, as I was put in those situations myself. Also, everything Christopher Day said was accurate and true.
I think Tina did an excellent job researching and reporting on this industry. I certainly hope the correct people heard this report, and I hope even more that something is done about it.
Nobody should be treated this way, everyone has human rights, yet Ambutrans seems to ignore that fact.
Good job Tina!
hi tina. thanks for doing this. sorry i wasn’t able to be more help to you. lets hope change is in the air!
I am a former employee of Ambutrans from back in the early 2000s, and it sounds like absolutely nothing has changed with that company, from the substandard vehicles to the arrogance of Dave Allen. I remember sitting in the back of those trucks with non-functional AC, sweltering and apologizing profusely to the pts and their families. I wrote up many incident reports about the non-functional AC. I got a call one day from Jeff Clarke telling me that all the vehicles were maintained properly, including the AC and that if I wanted i could come in and look at the receipts from the maintenance. He ended the conversation by telling me to either shut up or find another job. I unfortunately chose the former.
Ambutrans, OPT, CMR all scare me. I feel bad for most of the employees and loathe the owners. There needs to be actual legislation to protect people who get transferred in these taxis.
I’ve worked for Ambutrans for 7 months and quit earlier this year.
I’ve never provided Ambutrans with a driver abstract, immunizations and a criminal record check.
I know there was a case where Ambutrans was carrying 2 patients in December 2008 and the rear axle fell out on a ramp to a highway and went into a collision. They don’t take care of the trucks and almost all of these trucks shouldn’t even be on the road (I know truck #34 and #54 are considered potentially life threatening vehicles because the brakes don’t work properly).
Many trucks don’t have the Ministry of Transportation yellow inspection sticker updated. Some don’t even have it at all.
The mirrors on some trucks are so loose that it’s sometimes difficult to see blindspots. Again, these trucks are not inspected very well.
Ambutrans encourages workers to steal gloves in hospitals. Ambutrans says that they have gloves in their trucks but very rarely.
I know someone who drove to Beaverton to transport a patient who was stuck in a snowstorm. A tow truck operator helped the truck out. However, the attendant was on the radio with Dave Allin for direction on what to do next and Dave told the attendants to leave without paying the tow truck driver. The attendants obviously didn’t want to drive away without paying. So they paid and it took Ambutrans 1 month to pay the attendants back.
Like what the interviewers said, many trucks don’t have sterilized equipment such as BVM’s and there were times when the suction didn’t work properly. Virox is rare in trucks.
Tires are very worn out, almost balding.
There were times where Ministry of Labour was investigating the complaints brought on by Ambutrans workers about the conditions of the trucks.
They rip you off on pay. Workers complained that Ambutrans lowered the actual amount of hours worked on their stubs.
They say that one can make $14/hr – $19/hr. Although it’s true, it’s difficult to make that. Actual pay is $12/hr.
There was a case where we had to load 2 patients and one of them was MRSA. We told dispatch about the situation and they told us to “do it anyway.”
I quit because it was not a safe company.
I 100% agree that the PTS industry needs to be regulated by the MoH and that the public should be educated about the differences between PTS and EMS. But I also don’t think you should have painted a picture that every PTS is as bad as AmbuTrans. I work at another GTA PTS and although it has it’s issues, they’re definitely not as extensive as AmbuTrans.
I’m not afraid to tell dispatch that I’m not comfortable transferring a patient (for whatever reason) because they usually stand by my decision not to transfer them. We never transfer an isolated patient with a patient who is not isolated. The only time we ever get sent to do a double involving a patient who is isolated and one who is not is when the booking hospital fails to book that the patient is isolated. When this happens we notify our dispatch and they cancel the double and send an extra crew.
The biggest issue I have is with some employees who seem to have a careless attitude. I find these people are usually the ones without a paramedic background (so people who are trying to find a career in firefighting, police, or people who only have an EMR/EFR certificate). They will be the ones who might transfer an isolated patient with one who is not and not notify dispatch about the isolated patient. I think this happens because they just don’t understand the dangers of MRSA, C-Diff, etc, because they don’t have the medical training. Also I find these people are the ones who might both sit up front and leave a patient in the back alone.
Remember the transfer ambulance that was driven into the Toronto ravine by an intoxicated off duty driver. He was fired from that transfer company only to be hired by another a couple of months later. I don’t know where he is working today.
Regulation is needed.
Tina,
Great report. I wish I had kept records as good as Mr. Day. Another problem with the services is the adminstration of medication. The company I worked for signed our staff off to give ASA, Glugacon, Nitro, and EPI. Because it is a medically delegated act we were signed off in medication adminstration without ever meeting the doctor. The course was delivered in a weekend or two. Paramedics go to school for two years to adminster these 4 medications. Unfrounately we are reactive society and will take a serious inury or death for changes to be made.
Similar to the others I was let go from this company because I refused to transport a patient. I worked a 22 hour shift and was back on the road after 45 mins of sleep in the back of ambulance at base. After an 18 hour day I refused a call. I was driving all day as my partner did not have a valid F drivers license.
There are alot good companies out there. Unfournately there are some bad ones out there that will ruin it for everyone else. Anybody can buy an used ambulance and pass themselves off as a Patient Transfer Service or EMS Vehicle to the untrained eye.
Folks, the bottom line is this…Tina is not lumping transfer services together, its fact: this industry is not regulated or mandated to have any level of training, equipment, or anything. Granted, some areas the hospital has ensured certain stipulations must be met, and maybe your patient transfer service in your area is “above the bar”…buts legally, its by choice. The industry as a whole is still, unregulated, plain and simple.
Scott, you are quick to defend your company and rightfully so. 1) The article does make all services look bad “in general”, and 2) You have built a decent, well respected transfer service in Sudbury, using a lot of A-EMCA’s or A-EMCA’s to be. This however, changes nothing. Tina is not “lumping” the bad transfer services together, she is stating a fact – this industry as a whole is not regulated to have any level of training, equipment…NOTHING. Yes in some areas the hospitals have stipulated certain conditions must be met, and maybe the patient transfer service in your geographical area is “above the bar”, but legally speaking it’s only by choice. The industry as a whole is unregulated, plain and simple.
Good work Tina
Great digging Tina. You have certainly uncovered the hidden secrets of patient transfer services. I too worked for a transfer service prior to going to school. I am now a paramedic, and I cannot believe what I did while working for the transfer service. As a poorly trained transfer person, it truly is a case of not knowing how much you don’t know.
Hi Tina,
I love how your research has brought the truth out to the public. As a PTS worker (in a major SW Ontario city), winter has now arrived, not only is there no A/C in the summer in trucks, but no heat! Some heater units only blow cold to luke warm air. Never enough to get the cab warm.
As your article stated, linen supply is low, once it was stated in our company that linen is the ‘highest cost’ for the patient transfer division. Our company encourages us to ‘borrow’ linen from the hospitals. There are many times where we have gone all day on borrowed linens. It’s an embarrassment.
It should also be looked into the scheduling of crews. On an average day there are 10-15 crews on the road in our service. When it becomes a slow period, they will call crews in early (up to seven hours early) and end their shift. The company is only looking after their budget when we workers depend on our hours for income.
I enjoy reading how we are not the only company who has the same issues with ‘used, unsterilized, dirty cracked, warn, missing parts, broken equipment’. It has to become public knowledge what happens in the back of a truck is unsafe. If you ever need suctioning in a truck, you have a 50% chance of it being functional.
I would be VERY surprised if swabs were done in our trucks and turned up negative for MRSA/VRE/C-DIFF. They are not disinfected although they pay some one to do so.
All this being said: I encourage patients/public/friends NEVER to use the service I work for.
Tina,
Thank you for this valuable report. There is a great deal of misinformation about these private EMS services out there, and I strongly believe that both the provincial government and the companies themselves have an enormous responsibility to the public to modify the industry’s practices to provide safe and comfortable patient transfers.
I have worked for public EMS services for most of the past 18 years as a medic, dispatcher, training officer and as a project officer with Ministry of Health, but had the unfortunate experience to have worked for Ambutrans this past winter as a dispatcher. Though I possessed a great deal of experience with all of the aspects of emergency medical services provision throughout Ontario, I was truly shocked by what I found during my very short time at Ambutrans. The service that the company provides ranges from merely adequate, to downright dangerous and negligent – staff was woefully under-trained, vehicles were often mechanically unsafe, corners were cut at every opportunity in the name of profit and employees who objected to poor working conditions on moral grounds were dealt with swiftly and harshly. I feel that the company and others like it need immediate government oversight before this story becomes a tragedy.
Holy smokes ! Its like this just creeped up and surprise ! How did this happen ? Seen this for years ( paramedic ,28 in fact )with transfer services , dirty units , crappy out of date vehicles ( MOH MAKES Ems services do inspection,s regularly). Most transfer staff try hard and are friendly thought and mean well . Now for my story .6 or 7 years ago I saw an transfer car at a liquor store in Listowel at Christmas time . When I stopped i saw it was one from London ( you know who you are ) So the “attendant “was in the liqueur buying wine . When I asked about this he said , “oh im off duty and buying this because it my wife and mines aniversery ” Now if I didn’t know the difference between a transfer car and a EMS ambulance . I would swore if was a EMS unit with a great big star of life on it . So I called into the transfer office and said “did you know ….etc ” So they called the driver who I guess lied and said he was looking to get directions back to London .
So there is a VERY good reason to have over site on a provincial level for transfers cars and those who own them dont want it because it costs more to be regulated . Ya I said it Scott, your service may be great and I have no reason to think other wise , However if you are regulated , you costs go up , there fore so does the bill to the hospital …
As a proud and well trained Advanced Care EMS Paramedic in the Province of Ontario I resent the fact that there is nothing stopping someone from emblazening their uniform with the job title which I have trained for several years to attain. Over the past several years I have seen several witty attempt by companies to make their names sound like services which offer the same services one would employ when 911 is called for assistance. There’s no need to spell out the ones in question but we’ve all seen vehicles with red emergency lights which still appear operational on vehicles that say EMS or some witty (or not so witty) name which tries to sound like “Ambulance.” There are some anecdotes from my home town which talk of these vehicles using said emerg lights on private sites by event staff and even on roadways while transporting patients en route to hospital. Due diligence of care would have a reasonable person call a higher medical authority or if there is a trained medic in the employ of said company at least call for a vehicle which is legally allowed to operate on public roadway with emergency signals activated. This has occured in my home town with no ramifications to these companies and to my knowledge none even operate at the EFR level. Police have not seen when these infractions have occurred and perhaps families are not aware that these companies truly are not acting in the best interest of the patient when they don’t activate the 911 system and help the patient in every way possible.
I believe the province should distinguish that words like “Ambulance”, “Paramedic”, and “Emergency Medical Services” (EMS), as exclusive to organizations which are subject to regulations under the ambulance act. Security companies can’t wear uniforms with “Poleice” on them nor can they run through the streets with forward facing red lights which flash. Nobody drives red trucks with emergency lights atop and claims to fight fires except for local fire departments. This has to stop, lines have been crossed far to often by these companies and the public has been misinformed. The public deserves to know the difference and I believe MOHLTC has an obligation to protect the public from misinformation and those who would exploit the lack of regulation in this province. Thanks for your time Tina. Your efforts are appreciated.
I have some good news folks. A company in Windsor Ontario has been regulating non-ambulance transfers over the past year, Patients in all three hospitals will not allow a PTS move a patient unless it is accredited by the MTSG. I hope you find this information on the website informative and let others know about it as it will be coming across the province in 2010.
This report is LONG overdue! I am a trained EMT, and thought that this would be great opportunity for me to work on an ‘ambulance’ while I figured out how to transfer my accreditation to Ontario. Boy was I in for a shock.
I can attest to the following infringements:
The only ’supplies’ on the trucks were ‘borrowed’ from hospitals.
Patient files were at times kept by ‘attendants’ who were curious about information on them.
Working on a vehicle with working AC/Heat was an anomaly.
Frequently the vehicles smelled of exhaust inside and had broken locks, doors, wipers etc…
While I worked there, I knew of attendants who smoked inside transfer ‘ambulances’.
Standing up against them cost me pay, which I finally got back many years later after going through arbitration through the Ministry of Labour.
The list of infringements is LENGTHY and FRIGHTENING. I make it a point to tell everyone to not step foot or allow their loved ones to be transported in these death traps.
Thank you Tina for shedding a glimmer of light on the despicable practices.
I am a previous employee of VOYAGEUR patient transfer of sw ontario and can say without a doubt that it was the worst employment experience of my life. The management, dispatch and local supervisors are unbelievably ignorant and under trained, the vehicles and equipment being used are barely functioning, and in disrepair. Concerns voiced by employees always fall on deaf ears. Make no mistake the owners right down to the brainwashed supervisors are only concerned about money THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE PATIENTS!!!
The PTS I work for also does not supply us with linen, but we just take them from the hospitals. If staff ever says we’re not allowed to take their linen (which happens very rarely) I just tell them that the patient wont get transferred without it. I never ever re-use linen!!!
Hi My name is BoB, and I worked for Travois Medical Transfer for a period of aprox. 9 months.
I have read most of these posts and agree and disagree with allot of things. In ottawa, the patient transfer industry is in horrible conditon.
The trucks I used to drive were maintained at the bear minimum. The MTO stickers were out of date, tires were bald, brakes were shot and finding a working ac was a challenge.
When it came to supplies, we always took them from the hospitals. We were overworked, dis-respected and never payed accordingly.
I worked 60 hour weeks,
NO overtime pay
11$ an hour.
I worked for two weeks at 60 hrs a week to get a paycheck of a little bit over 900$.
I was very dissapointed of these working conditions after I was hired. This a much needed service, and it is too bad that the owner of this company is not willing to fork out the extra money to make his company safe for patients, make his employees happy and last but not least follow labour laws.
I would never personally get a familly member transfered with this company. They are safer in a taxi.
I have worked as a dispatcher for a patient transfer company for a few years now. I am the first to speak with the hospitals and the one the crews call if there are problems. I can not speak for what happens at any other company and it sounds like the one that was investigated in this report should be ashamed, but this is not how every company works and I think that by only investigating one company and speaking to obviously disgruntled EX employees, you have come to a very bias opinion and left people feeling unsafe when there is no need.
I see all the ins and outs around here and would like to touch on some of the points made through out this investigation:
I can tell you FOR A FACT, that our crews do NOT re-use linens. We have a laundering service that comes regularly and takes any used linens to be cleaned before re-using. I have NEVER had a crew call me and tell me they were out of linen and I would certainly NEVER tell them to steal some if they did. I will tell you that neither the owner of the company nor any management have ever told me to tell crews to steal from the hospitals. As for gloves, we have never needed to steal any from hospitals. Since the day I started working here there have always been boxes upon boxes of gloves (and most other supplies) in dispatch.
As I said above, I am the first to speak with the hospitals when they call to book our services. It is standard practice for any of our call takers or dispatchers to clearly as the question “Does this patient have any isolations or precautions?”. I can tell you right now that if you were to really look into things (including checking recorded conversations) you will find that almost every case is hospital error. I have had MANY crews call me rather upset because they found out at the drop off location that the patient was infectious, yet the hospital said they were not. So somewhere in the chain off communication, between the nursing home that sends the patient to the hospital with EMS, the EMS attendants who pass the patient over to the hospital or the nurse who calls us to book the transfer, there is a break, and maybe it is them that need to be spoken to about this and better regulated, as it is a huge concern for us as well. I do not feel that you checked your facts very well. What dispatchers of what company did you speak with to find out if isolations are things we are trained to ask about? Did you listen to recorded calls with hospitals to see if staff are asking about isolations? Did you speak to the charge nurses at hospitals and ask them if it is regular practice for us to ask these things? Understand that our crews being in contact with any infectious disease puts all of us, including the owner and management, at risk of infection.
I will not say that our trucks are always 100%, yes sometimes the A/C will not work and other minor issues such as that, but as soon as a crew member calls us and tells us there is something wrong with their truck they are immediately told to bring the truck to base, even if it is for something as minor as A/C, if needed we call a tow truck. We have garage staff that work very hard to keep up our trucks and if I do say so myself, they do an outstanding job. I would also like to say that we have nurses from hospitals all over riding along with us every single day, if our trucks were in bad condition I don’t think they would continue to use us and to come into our vehicles with us daily as they do.
Now I know that someone else has already said something about this but the claim made that there were two medics sitting in the front seat of a truck while there was a patient on board is appalling and is NOT standard practice and though I can not speak for that company I can say that ours would never stand for that. I would however like to point out that we are STABLE PATIENT TRANSFERS and maybe you need to question the doctor or nurses that signed off on sending this patient. Now I am sure you that you are going to claim that the doctor did not know that these people were not trained paramedics but did you think for one second that maybe that was this doctors way of “passing the buck” so to speak? I have never had any doctor or nurse say anything that would leave me to think they believe us to be the same as EMS. In my experiences I have had doctors and nurses so badly want to get patients out of their hospitals that they lie about many things including weight, the patients diagnosis and yes, even how stable the patient is, I am not saying this is what happened in this scenario, but it does happen. I have had crews call me from the hospital and tell me that they are not comfortable taking a patient because they do not believe them to be stable. And I, as a dispatcher ALWAYS back my crews when they tell me something like that.
I also have the pleasure of seeing what this company requires of their medics in order to work here. I know for a FACT that they have to have a clean drivers abstract (this is needed for insurance) and be free of a criminal record. They also must provide proof of all immunizations and be EFR certified at the least. Many of the men and woman working here are either retired EMS workers, paramedics waiting for full time hours with local EMS, freshly graduated paramedics or students working their way through school to be a paramedic.
I know that the point of this investigation was to make the point that there are no actual regulations in place and that maybe they are needed, I do not necessarily disagree with that, however, in making that point you have made everyone question the safety of these services and potentially done damage to businesses that ARE going above and beyond. Maybe you should have branched out a little more, rather than speaking only with ex employees of one transfer service, why not go to all of the transfer services, speak with current and past employees and then only discredit the ones you found to be shameful. If you have done this and just neglected for some reason to put it in your report, I would LOVE to see proof of your findings.
In conclusion I will say that every job has it’s ups and downs and every company has it’s politics, the one I work for is not free of these things. However, I will say that I for the most part, enjoy working for my employer, I enjoy being a part of the business and I feel confident in the service that we provide and I truly hope that your one-sided report has not tainted the patient transfer industry irreparably.
Thank you for allowing me to speak my mind.
Thank you Tina for bringing this issue to light.
In response to “Dispatcher’s” comments, I am concerned about the language that is being used to describe patient transfer service employees. According to the Houghton Mifflin Canadian Dictionary “Medic” is a term used to refer to 1. a physician or surgeon 2. a medical student or intern 3. a military medical corpsman. Interestingly enough, as a medical student I have rarely heard the term used other than for highly trained military medical personnel. I would suggest that using this term to describe employees of patient transfer companies is inappropriate, as it implies that these individuals have received a high degree of medical training.
Role confusion is very dangerous. If patient transfer companies are indeed offering “patient transfer” services, they should indeed present themselves in a distinctive manner. This means that employees should dress in a markedly different manner than ambulance paramedics, so that patients do not expect patient care transfer workers to have the same skillsets as paramedics.
Patients should be looked after by appropriately trained personnel in a clean, safe, regulated environment which is free of employee coercion. Companies who claim to provide quality service should not be afraid of the prospect of regulation. It will heighten their status and increase patient confidence.
Hi Dispatcher,
You’re not the first to accuse me of bias due to your mistaken impression that I only spoke with “disgruntled” employees of one company. The fact is, as stated in my story, that I spoke with employees from three different companies, and all told me of similar practices occurring within their companies.
While there may well be some companies that are better than others, and you may or may not work for one of them, it’s certainly not my role as a reporter to investigate every one in the province and, as you suggest, report my findings.
But I’d be more than happy to speak with you in person and visit your facilities, and put the call out to speak with current and former workers of your company to get a well-rounded idea of what is happening aboard your company’s trucks. Since you didn’t actually mention your company, please let me know which one you work for. It is, as you say, a great opportunity to highlight the good that is going on within this much needed, yet woefully unregulated, industry.
I’m really looking forward to meeting you and speaking with your workers, so thanks in advance for giving me that chance.
While you may feel I have left people feeling unsafe “unnecessarily” the months I spent investigating this industry leads me to think otherwise. These were not “disgruntled” workers whom I spoke with, they were exploited and abused workers, put in lousy positions because their incompetent and profit-motivated dispatchers were unwilling, or plainly too stupid, to acknowledge the reality of what these workers were describing in terms of the patients they were dealing with. And these were the workers who gave a damn. There are plenty who simply don’t.
Infection control overall within this industry and within hospitals in general is a bit of a joke. I am not at all surprised to hear that your workers face issues in terms of not being properly notified about a patient’s status. And I have spoken to many within this industry, and quite possibly your company, who tell me that dispatch really doesn’t care about precautions.
The hospitals, nurses and doctors are indeed dodging responsibility here, and I look forward to reporting further on this issue, and digging deeper on that front. Be sure to check back with the site for updates on this story, and if you want to receive an occasional newsletter that I will be putting together on this, please forward me an email to tpittaway AT sympatico DOT ca with “subscribe” in the subject heading.
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Tina,
This was an amazing report.
I worked for nine months at ambutrans, and compared to the other stories, I am fairly lucky. Most of my patients were stable, and I enjoyed talking to them. Yet crews were routinely left in the dark about special needs for patients ie. oxygen, precautions, etc. And would blame the crews when we showed up when questioned by the hospitals.
One of the main issues with Ambutrans is the dispatch office. They are consistantly sending us to floors many hours late, to the point where we had to rush to make sure the patient did not miss their appointment. One time they wanted us to take two patients (a highly questionable practice) One was a sweet old lady, the other was a psych patient in restraints. When questioned, they told us to do it anyway. One of theses patients was going a fair distance away, to the point we would be working well over the 13 hrs set forth by the ministry of transportation. When told that I did not feel safe doing this call, I was told to do it anyway. It was done, and I quit before my next shift. They are now not giving me my last pay cheque and my vacation pay.
Thank you for exposing this.
The comments about difficulties getting paid are also true. Many paycheques would be shortchanged, and when the employee inquired and showed their records of their shifts, they were told by Jeff Clark that they were wrong, and trying to rip off the company. To get our vacation pay, we had to write many letters and make many phone calls. Also getting out T4’s was also difficult, and late.
For a while Dave and Jeff had an incentitive program “PIP” which the employees would recieve a bonus. Many times when we were owed this bonus, we would not recieve it.
The vehicles were in a very sad state of repair. Many times I reported tires so bald that metal wires were sticking out. And yet I would get that exact truck, with the same tires my next shift. I once was given a truck for a night shift, in February, in a cold alert, blizzard, that did not have heat. We informed dispatch who told us to continue on with our night shift.
I was told many times to reuse linen and take linen from hospitals. We were told to take gloves from hospitals as well, they stated that is was part of the contract with the hospitals to privde us with gloves.
Many times I phoned dispatch from a hospital floor to inform them that a particular call was not safe to do, but was told to do it anyways.
Many times when I refused to do a call, they would keep sending other crews until someone would take the call.
We were often sent late to pick up a patient, and not told that we were late. On one occasion we were sent early to pick up a patient that was going out of town, we were 45 mintues early. The patient was still eating and getting medication. The patient was also diabetic. When I called dispatch to inform them of the situation I was told “Well do what you have to do, I dont care, chew the food for the patient and shove it down their throat”
All of these things did not seem to matter to management, they were brought to their attention on many occasions, and were never followed up. All the mattered was the bottom line. We were promised a few times that follow up meetings would be held to address our concerns, yet they never were. I actually went to Dave’s office to confront him, and give him our list of concerns. He took notes, and said he would follow up, yet he did not. Sad to say, we were not surprised!
Tina,
To investigate three companies but only name one on the air was not only unfair but very biased reporting on your part. You mislead the public into believing that your report was only about Ambutrans when in fact it wasn’t. This attack was clearly aimed at only one company, leaving me to wonder if there was not a hidden agenda involved.
Hi there,
I in no way misled the public. I stated in the piece that I spoke with employees from three different companies
and that all told me of similar practices. AmbuTrans was singled out in my report as frankly, the overwhelming number
of employees, current and former, who contacted me in my investigation, were employees of AmbuTrans. The fact that
I stated in the documentary that this is happening in all three of the companies I looked at actually works against your
assertion that I misled the public into believing that this was only going on there.
I also plan on doing other stories on this, whereby other companies certainly will be named come under the microscope.
For this specific story, myself, my editors and the CBC’s lawyers felt it was reasonable to focus on one company. But frankly,
every company I looked at had identical practices to AmbuTrans.
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One thing I can tell you guys, is that travois medical transfer in ottawa must be the worst in patient transfer.
They use to hire paramedic students, but after pushing all of them away with their neglect and anti-labour law practises, they now hire anyone who has a liscense and who wants a job.
When I worked with these guys I worked 60 hours a week, No overtime obviously, for approx, 8 months. Near the end of my patient transfer career I had to call in sick one night for personal reasons, When I came to work the next day, they fired me.
On my R.O.E they wrote down that I had abandonned my post!
I only wish that Travois Medical Transfer goes bankcrupt.
Cheers
Hi Tina,
While I think your report was excellent, I think the most important thing about your report is that it shows how unresponsive our system is.
Websites like yours are one way that we could shine a light on the morass that is our healthcare system.
Tina,
This is an excellent, albeit frightening, report. Do you have any information on other provincial regulatory regimes? I did a quick Google search for BC’s regulations, but I couldn’t find a good summary of the regulations for patient transfer.
Thanks,
Hi Peter,
I will check my files in the next few days and update the post with more information.
cheers,
Tina
Trina, can you post a checklist of non-intrusive things we should be watching for?
It may be two lists. One is the things to observe from a distance about the unregulated transfer vehicles and employees.
The second is the questions we should be asking before accepting transfer by one of these companies.
Thanks.
Still no Pedimates or working Air conditioning! Dave Allin is a liar! you know you are working for a shady person when when you wave or say hi he just turns around and walks away, haven’t ever met him in the 4 months of working here! As a medical attendant you never will.
Its too bad these services are a stepping stones towards ems and fire services there are a lot of excellent workers working at AmbuTrans getting screwed over every day. Missing hours on paychecks and cancelled shifts and short days are all common practice.
Overall the worst company I have ever worked for in my life never seen a place with such poor standards or have worked for someone who has treated me so abysmally.
Would never ride in an AmbTutrans vehicle ever again and urge everyone else to avoid that company if at all possible!
As a former employee, I can tell you first hand that the owner of Amutrans does nothing but lie to people. I’ve had trucks that shoudl not be on the road, I’ve broken down on the side of the 400 at 1:00 in the morning with a patient on board and has to wait almost 2 hours for another ambulance to show up. I’ve driven down the 401 and has exhaust leaking into the cab of the truck and been told to keep working. I was sick at work onw day, vomiting, and I was suspended for coming back early. The company does not pay over time, the owner refuses and I’ve been waiting for 3 months for my record of employment so I can collect insurance benifits. There are more stories from a company that should not be in buisness. Not to mention I was released due to the fact they felt I had too much time off after my wife passed away. I encourage everyone to not use Ambutrans, your taking your life in your hands with faulty equipment and an employer that is ok with leaving patients alone.
I turned on the radio today in the middle of the segment regarding non-emergency patient transportation in Ontario. My ambulance career is into its 25th year – 14 years of emergency ambulance and the last 11 of non-emergency patient transportation – in Alberta.
The woman, accompanying her son in the back of the ambulance, witnessing him display circumoral cyanosis, a deteriorating level of consciousness, and increased respiratory effort, needed to inform the ambulance crew seated “up-front” of her son’s changing condition. Why was there not a crew member with the patient?
There should be an organized continuity of care. In assuming patient care the ambulance crew (should) have the responsibility to be informed of the patient being transported. The crew must learn of the presenting complaint and the reason for transport. What have been the patient’s signs and symptoms? What treatments and diagnostic procedures have occurred prior to transport? What have been the effects of such; have there been any changes in the patient’s condition? The crew must thoroughly assess their patient to be aware of their patient’s “baseline” presentation – this should enable monitoring of the patient’s condition, watching for changes enroute to the destination facility. And, in the event there are changes, for the better or the worse, the ambulance attendant must be trained to recognize the changes and to respond accordingly. The crew, hopefully, becomes aware of the patient’s past medical history – in addition to the primary, more acute, reason for medical attention and transportation, it is rather common to be manifesting simultaneous chronic conditions.
Enroute, are there any treatments to maintain – O2, IV, medication administrations; ECGs; Foley catheterization; etc.? The patient may not have any of these treatments underway at the time of patient pickup but the crew needs to recognize their indications and need for implementation either before transport if necessary, or, should the patient’s condition change enroute, to be able to independently render emergency treatments (cardiac, respiratory, neurologic, pain management, etc.) in the ambulance. And the information gathered before transport and all actions performed by or witnessed by the transport crew until transferred to staff at the receiving facility must be accurately documented. In Alberta, emergency and non-emergency ambulances are similarly equipped and their staff similarly trained.
I am not a lawyer, however, I would expect the involved ambulance crew and service to be liable for patients’ well being during transport. To have heard, in this segment, instances of service with an inadequate oxygen supply, inappropriately reused equipment, soiled linen, poorly maintained vehicles leads me only to shake my head at the lack of professionalism and associated risks to patient well-being. For some staff members, daring enough to complain to management, to be reprimanded and suspended without pay suggests there is a lack of legislation/bylaws governing the health care industry. It appears neither the Ontario Ministry of Health, nor the hospitals, nor transportation services involved are aware of the actual responsibilities in patient care and the potential liability issues that could evolve from neglecting patient care.
Hallway lines are common in every health region across Canada; it is not uncommon for more stable patients to wait several/many hours before placement into actual emergency departments. During such lengthy delays patients must continue to be cared for by ambulance staff until such time ER staff of at least an equivalent level of training can take over care. So, while waiting in a hallway, staff may need to tend to the original complaint that necessitated the ambulance transport in addition to any other, perhaps chronic, medical condition that may need attention. Maybe additional signs and symptoms are presenting to show deterioration of a patient’s condition. Will this be recognized by care givers? Repeated reassessments are necessary, along with updates of patients’ conditions to triage staff, and further documentation of such.
Any patient, even the most “stable”, are in the medical system due to a complaint – a health compromise. Perhaps their complaint is considered minor and their medical history avoids risk factors. These patients could meet “downloading” criteria and be moved to ER waiting rooms, putting the ambulance crew back into service, available for another patient transport. But some “stable” patients will remain stable only with continued treatment and are potentially unstable. It is vital all involved staff – ambulance, transport service management, and hospital/ER – are aware of such. In Ontario, who claims responsibility/liability for these patients during transport between facilities?
I believe the segment identified in Ontario ambulance staff with minimal training – maybe only some CPR or first aid training. In Alberta, every ambulance attendant will have passed a sanctioned prehospital training program, followed by provincial examination and registration. All ambulance staff must follow established protocols set by a group of predetermined medical directors. Here, it has been some 20 years since any had only a “CPR ticket” and safety oriented first aid and considered just an EVO – emergency vehicle operator. Then still, the EVO had to be partnered with an EMT or paramedic on the ambulance.
You went on to interview a management person of a transportation service who refused to answer your questions pertaining to the transport of pediatrics, his citing disclosure of such information would break confidentiality. But you asked only of protocols, not of anything personal or private.
Need I get into PPE, person protection equipment, and the protection we strive to take regarding patients with possible communicable diseases? Hospitals try to identify those patients needing isolation but it is not uncommon for ambulance staff to be exposed to patients who only later are found to need isolation. Regardless, it is always best for staff to minimize risk of contamination by obeying proper washing/hygiene technique. Those in isolation rooms have placards outside the room to identify the level of protection to be taken by staff – gloves, masks, gowns, face shields? Especially with the recent H1N1 scare, all staff had N95 mask fitting and testing and all have easy access to such when potential exposure to droplet spread contaminants. We’ll even put surgical masks on our coughing patients showing signs of infection. And after transport of such patients, we’ll do our best to decontaminate our ambulances.
Why isn’t there simply a mutual agreement between ambulance services and hospitals regarding the provision of clean linen – soiled linen left at hospitals and replaced with fresh? Why aren’t individual operators supplying enough oxygen, etc? No air conditioning in some ambulances during the heat/humidity of an Ontario summer? (I grew up in Quebec.) Are patient care reports audited? Are all ambulances in the province inspected each year to meet a provincial standard?
I’m sorry if this note is starting to run a bit long. As a long time paramedic I was embarrassed, disappointed, and a little scared at standards of ambulance care elsewhere in Canada. Legal precedents have been set in Alberta regarding liability of patient care during prehospital transport or transport between health care facilities. Legislation/bylaws, in Alberta, control and protect both the public and ambulance staff/operations. Should there not be common standards for every province to meet?
Hi Bert,
Just to clarify, these are not ambulance workers. Ontario does indeed have standards and regulations for EMS workers, but this industry is the “non-emergency patient transfer industry”… Only patients deemed by a hospital to be stable enough to transport is supposed to be moved aboard one of these trucks.
The Ministry of Health does not have any oversight of this industry, nor do they have any interest in doing so.
Despite the assumption that the companies themselves should be held liable for any harm that comes to patients, it is in fact the hospitals that are liable. There is woefully inadequate monitoring of complaints against these services. I have spoken to several patients recently who had horrendous experiences aboard these trucks who *did* take their complaints directly to their hospitals. All were told by the hospitals that they should complain to the companies. Patients are being misled by hospitals routinely – either through ignorance on th epart of hospital staff of through a concerted effort to avoid responsibility.
Many patients believe the hospitals are being up front with them, and abandon their complaints.
Kathleen Goldhar, whose son Nathan nearly died, never complained to Sick Kids. I have to wonder if Nathan had been in severe distress mid-transport, and these idiot workers had the sense to take him back to Sick Kids, whether the hospital would have taken responsibility for his injuries/potential death. Hospitals are in complete conflicts of interest here. Would they have recommended that Kathleen sue them for negligence?
None of the patients who have contacted me following the airing of this story had their complaints taken by any of the hospitals who were responsible for their well being, despite their attempts to have them heard. They were shocked to realize, upon hearing the story, that they had been deceived by the very hospitals they looked to for treatment.
Push your local hospitals and long term care facilities that call these non ambulance transportation companies to not use any of them unless they are certified. It will only take one large hospital to make a policy that effective a certain date, no patients will be moved out of our facility unless they are approved by the MTSG. Once that happens, these companies will move quickly to get their company’s paperwork in order, ensure their employees have the proper paperwork and their vehicles are inspected. You will see some major changes for use.
Hey Rich,
Despite Tom Closson’s high praise, hospitals would love to stop using these services since their costs come out of their operating budgets. Unfortunately under the Ambulance Act, changes were introduced under the Harris gov’t that requires hospitals to use private services in non-emergencies.
Hundreds of thousands of non-emergency patients are still transported via EMS vehicles annually both because there aren’t enough private operators (thank God…) to handle the flow, but also because if transported aboard an EMS vehicle, the province has to pick up half the tab.
There really is no “paperwork” to get in order since there are no regulations requiring minimum standards for staff aboard these vehicles.
You seem to wont to lump all PTS under the same umbrella, i worked for one for a year before getting on with a service and i have to tell you that my experiences were mostly positive.
If I ever had concerns about a patients condition and was not comfortable taking them out the hospital I was always allowed to refuse, no questions asked.
I was paid overtime, If there was a mistake on my pay check it was cleared up immediately.
I was also required to submit the same paperwork ( criminal record search, drivers abstract, etc)that i was required to submit when i got a job in EMS
Here in the comments you have stated that “I in no way misled the public. I stated in the piece that I spoke with employees from three different companies
and that all told me of similar practices”.
There are a number of companies operating in Ontario how about you name them so that the good companies are not lumped into your story.
I also feel that if you really wanted you find dirt about every company you could and that’s all you are reporting about , i find it hard to believe that, you found no one from these companies who enjoyed their jobs.
Hi Dave,
The point of my story was to highlight the kinds of practices that are present within this unregulated industry that puts patients in harm’s way. I’m sure there are people who work for Ambutrans and other companies who enjoy their jobs, but frankly I don’t care about that. Perhaps the knuckleheaded idiots who nearly let Kathleen Goldhar’s son Nate die in the back of their truck enjoy their jobs. I could care less. I care about the patients who are exposed to health risks because of incompetent workers, poor standards, and punitive dispatchers who suspend and fire workers who advocate for the safety of their patients.
I’ve heard from a few folks such as yourself (see “Dispatcher’s” comments) who somehow think it’s my role to serve as a one-woman ratings agency for this industry. It’s not. But if you care to share with me the name of the company you have such great things to say about, I’d happily spend a bit of time looking into their track record. I’m still waiting for “Dispatcher” to take me up on the same request.
instead of looking for the bad stuff, how about looking into some of the good things the companies do.
i am sure by reading all of your remarks that you have no interest in telling some of the positive stories
Yes Dave, you’re correct. I have no interest at all in telling stories about workers who enjoy their jobs. That’s not my role as an investigative reporter.
So I guess you’ve decided to take a pass on me looking into your former employer’s track record? Just curious why that’s the case if it’s such a fine example of how these services should operate. You know how to reach me if you care to share.
Also i agree that the people involved in the incident should be charged with neglect and the company should also be charged.
I wanted to add something alot of A-EMCAs that dont get jobs in EMS work for these companies,and if they do anything inappropriate they will lose their cerification.
An EMCA can be de-cerified if they do anything determental to a patient.
So i guess the industry is not regulated, but a sizeable majority of the employees are.
There are a lot of certified paramedics working in this industry, and it is because of their knowledge of *how* things should be done that many of them contacted me throughout and following my investigation. But I disagree with your impression that workers with A-EMCA certification will lose their certification if they do anything wrong. No one with the power to strip them of their certification has oversight of this industry and what goes on aboard these vehicles. And the companies sure aren’t interested in sharing that information, since they, and the hospitals and long term care facilities who contract them, could be sued for endangering patient safety.
actually you are incorrect any EMCA that does anything determental to a patient can be de-certified as they are Ministry of Health oversite over their certification.
I would offer you the company that i worked for before , I dont know how they are doing now althought i see them alot and have not heard any stories.
Why wont you tell us other then AmbuTrans whose employees did you talk to .
Hi dave,
You stated earlier that should a certified paramedic “do anything inappropriate they will lose their certification”. This is nonsense. Now you say they “can” be de-certified. Yes they can. But that is unlikely since there is very little direction provided to patients who may want to complain about bad service.
Sure, if the certification body become aware of a specific incident with a specific worker they may in fact move to de-certify the worker. But that’s not happening. Patients don’t know where to take complaints, as pointed out in the IBI report. That’s a problem.
I didn’t name the other companies in my report as CBC’s legal department advised us to stick with naming the one company that we had overwhelming details about, in addition to paperwork – AmbuTrans.
Honestly, I’d be happy to look at your former employer. But if you don’t know how they’re doing now, I’d encourage you not to sing their praises unless your assessment of their current operating procedures are indeed anchored in fact.
Actually, Tina is right. You can’t strip someone with EMCA certification in a private setting with ZERO oversight and regulations. MOH has no authority.
Just to clarify, to be considered as a “Paramedic” in Ontario, the following needs to apply:
(1) Community College Paramedicine Graduate
(2) A-EMCA certification from MOHTLC (Provincial Exam Certification)
(3) Base Hospital Certified (Doctor certifies you to give controlled medical acts and Symptom Relief/Medications)
(4) WORKING for a EMS service ON SHIFT (once your shift is over, you are technically not a paramedic, i.e. You’re no longer covered under base hospital to give symptom relief medications or perform delegated medical acts in Schedule 1 of the Ambulance Act.)
So A-EMCA certified employees that are working for a transfer service are still NOT paramedics according to MOHTLC and the Ontario Ambulance Act 257/00 subsection 8 (1).
I just want to applaud every other province has regulates everyone in either an EMS or Transfer ambulance. Way to drop the ball on that one MOHTLC. You should be ashamed. Ontario has the best trained paramedics in the country, but its so sad that this currently tarnishes this.
We just had my 91 year old mom transferrred from a hospital back to her nursing home. I asked for a 6 pm pickup which was arranged through Ontario Patient Transfer/Travois which is the same company. I was told to either have cash or I could charge it to a credit card and to be sure to be there at the arranged time or I could be charged extra.
My brother and I were there at 5:50 and waited and waited. I walked to the nurse’s station in the hospital at about 6:30 to ask if they had heard anything. The nurse there said that there was a delay. At 7:15pm the 2 attendants walked into the room. After getting mom transferred, which took them about 15 mins or so, my brother and I were asked if either of us wanted to drive with her as an escort in the back of the ambulance. My brother jumped at the chance (he is a captain in the fire department in another province). They loaded her up and I followed them in my car.
I could not believe how much that ambulance swayed down the road. It went from the yellow line to the white line, back to the yellow line. At one point, I was very frightened that it would go off the road. When we arrived at the nursing home, I quietly told my brother what I saw. He said that the drive in the ambulance was “brutal”, that he could feel the vehicle sway back and forth as well. He wondered if the driver had ever driven an ambulance before.
I received a bill from Ontario Patient Transfer for $15 plus GST. The bill stated: Waited for 40 mins = $15.00. I was shocked. I called them to ask if that was money coming back to me as I WAS THE ONE WHO HAD TO WAIT 40 MINS and more!!
After waiting for the person in the office to call me back with details about this – she had to research this as there was missing paperwork and so had 2 emails to the manager of Travois in the Ottawa area. She called me back saying that she had spoken with one of the attendants of the ambulance. He said he remembered that there was some discussion as to who would be the escort !!! Firstly, it must have been some discussion if it took 40 mins to come to a conclusion. Secondly, as I run from anything medically (there is not a nurse’s bone in my body) and my brother was keen on how things are run in this province, the discussion lasted about ah 10 seconds. He jumped at the chance and I let him.
I am now waiting for this girl’s manager to call me back. I was told that should I not pay it, it would be put to collection. I told her that it won’t go to collection because it may go to court instead. What a joke this company is. I know that in the future, I will lay a person in the back of a pickup box before I call for any kind of ambulance transfer in the Province of Ontario.
and don’t get me started on the pathetic state that nursing homes in this province are in. I have a year long journal that is almost 40 pages long that is full of neglect. Be very very scared of becoming old and facing a stay in a nursing home!!!!
I work in the industry and I’m really concerned about the way we transport patients in our vehs! You said in your report that we are not trained however alot of us do have the basic qualifications required to sustain life and most of us are graduated paramedics or firefighters but they do hire just about anyone and the training, ppl can’t afford cause we are only paid 11-12$/hr howofo u survive and pay for the training?