Montreal paramedics say staff shortages are to blame after an ambulance took seven hours to respond over the weekend to a call involving a 91-year-old woman who died before they arrived.
Urgences-santé spokesman Stéphane Smith says the service received a call about a woman who fell and hurt her leg, adding that the call was categorized as Priority 4—which is not considered urgent.
He says the woman’s condition was re-evaluated every hour and did not change, but he says by the time paramedics arrived Sunday morning, she was dead.
TVA has reported that the woman was named Thérèse Pardiac and that she had heart problems. The broadcaster quoted Pardiac’s daughter-in-law, who said the 911 call was for a possible hip fracture and the 91-year-old was suffering while waiting for the ambulance….