People in rural areas are waiting way too long for an ambulance to arrive, that according to the People’s Alliance Party.
Leader Kris Austin says under contract Ambulance New Brunswick has a standard of 22 minutes from the time of a 911 call to arriving on scene, 90 percent of the time.
However, Austin says they have found there are eight exemptions to this rule, including distance travelled. Austin says this means the stats ANB provides to New Brunswickers are not accurate.
Austin says in some cases an ambulance arrives anywhere from a half hour to even an hour after the 911 call has been placed.
When Chipman fought for their ambulance a few years ago they were not given this information of the exemptions so Austin says Ambulance New Brunswick is painting this rosey picture that is not the case and he is hearing this from both patients and paramedics. In his words “it’s not a good scene”.