Latest news with #ambulances
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
73 Palestinians killed while waiting for humanitarian aid across Gaza, health ministry says
At Gaza's Shifa hospital, ambulances arrived in waves, unloading the wounded and the dead. Others carried the injured in by hand. Bodies wrapped in shrouds lay on the ground as mourners gathered around them, wailing in grief.
ABC News
2 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Two men killed in plane crash west of Brisbane
Two men have died in a plane crash at Oakey, west of Brisbane. Emergency Services were called to Oakey Cooyar Road just after 3pm on Sunday, to reports a light plane had come down. A Queensland Fire Department spokesperson said crews arrived at the scene to find the plane well alight and quickly extinguished the blaze. Six ambulances were called to the crash but were stood down. The men could not be saved. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said the incident had been reported, and they would be investigating the crash.
CTV News
6 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
M.D. of Opportunity offering to pay AHS to transport the dead as bodies lay on the side of the road for hours
The M.D. of Opportunity, a remote municipal district in northern Alberta, is penning a letter to Alberta Health Services (AHS), offering to pay for ambulances to transport people who die in the community to the hospital. They figure this will cost the M.D. around $500 per person and be well worth it. Coun. Darlene Jackson added the item to council's July 9 meeting agenda, because two young men had died in the community recently near a main road in Wabasca. Their bodies lay there, she said, covered with a blanket with their shoes sticking out for six hours. Jackson said she drove past with her grandchildren, who were traumatized. It was also hard on her, she told her council colleagues, and she can't imagine what it was like for the family. 'It's sad and unacceptable,' she said. The reason the bodies lay there for so long, Jackson explained, is that AHS ambulances are no longer allowed to transport dead people. In the past, the ambulance would transport the body, the staff would clean them up, and the family would be allowed to view the body. Viewing the body is important for Cree culture, she added. Reeve Marcel Auger had also driven past the scene as described and could see the effect that seeing the bodies had on his young nephews, who were in the car. 'They get traumatized by it,' he said. 'They know what they are seeing.' The only people allowed to touch the bodies are undertakers or coroners, said Kimball Newberry, Opportunity's acting chief administrative officer. However, the nearest undertakers are in Slave Lake, Athabasca and High Prairie. Slave Lake and Athabasca are both about an hour and half. High Prairie is two hours and forty minutes. Neither case was suspicious, so the body didn't have to stay there for the police to investigate, Jackson said. One died from health reasons by the fishing dock. The other died in a quadding collision. The families weren't even allowed to see the bodies. 'That's been a thing for a number of years,' said Coun. Tahirih Wiebe. In 2018, when her step-father was dying at home (which is what he wanted), the hospital told the family they would be responsible for transporting the body to the hospital. Thankfully, he didn't die at home, she said, otherwise she'd never have used her car again, after transporting him. 'I don't even know if the hospital will take them,' said Wiebe. Council agreed that something needed to be done about the situation. Coun. Gerald Johnson said he knew of a woman who cradled her dead child in the ditch after an accident for hours, waiting for the coroner. The police kept her safe with their vehicles, but couldn't move the body. Coun. Robin Guild suggested writing a letter to AHS. 'It's not right for the bodies to sit there for six hours,' he said. 'I don't understand why,' said Wiebe. 'If you're waiting for an investigator it is one thing.' She mentioned a man who froze to death in another community who was left there for hours. As a temporary measure, Auger suggested that the M.D. ask police if they have a pop-up tent they could put over people and maybe a fan to keep the body cool when it is hot. Wiebe said the M.D. fire department responds to calls, so they could maybe set up the tent. Pearl Lorentzen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeside Leader
CBC
6 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Frontenac Paramedics used moving trucks for training due to shortage of spare ambulances
Frontenac Paramedics are so strapped for spare ambulances that some crews have been forced to delay starting their shifts until a vehicle becomes available, and new staff had to be trained by driving rented moving trucks. A report by Frontenac Paramedics Chief Mark Goudie laid out the issue ahead of Wednesday's Frontenac County council meeting, where councillors voted in favour of allowing the service to keep two of its ambulances beyond their normal lifespan in order to help address the shortage. The report states that since 2020, the waiting period between purchasing an ambulance and receiving delivery has risen sharply, and so has the cost. New vehicles now cost approximately $260,000 — a 40 per cent jump since 2018 — and can take anywhere from 18 months to two years to arrive, the chief wrote. Meanwhile, in order to meet strict Ministry of Health standards, ambulances must be taken out of service for regular maintenance. That has become a challenge given the scarcity of spares, according to Goudie. Delayed starts, unusual training Any extra vehicles are often already in service while front-line vehicles are in the shop, he explained in the report. "Not only does this have a significant impact on our ability to maintain the fleet but also puts our ability to respond to the community at risk," Goudie wrote. "There is little surge capacity built into our system to be able to adequately respond in the event of a major incident requiring more Paramedic resources to be deployed rapidly." The impact is already being felt, with increasing periods when there are no usable spare ambulances available, the chief said. "This has resulted in paramedic crews not having vehicles to book into, and having to delay shift starts until a vehicle is available," his report states. "During the most recent orientations, we did not have sufficient spare vehicle to train our new Paramedics in. They needed to use rented moving vehicles for driver training." Coun. Judy Greenwood-Speers described those issues as "very distressing" as new paramedics are required to complete specific training. "How they can meet the standards of training by driving a larger moving vehicle?" she asked in a phone interview with CBC after the meeting. "When I saw that, I thought, this is not good." 6 spares now available In response to questions from councillors, Frontenac Paramedics Deputy Chief of Operations Dean Popov, said while the patient compartments typically have a lifespan of 12 years, the "nuts and bolts" components of the vehicles usually last about six years. Over that time, the typical ambulance racks up more than 250,000 kilometres and spends an equivalent amount of time in park with its engine running, he explained. Keeping two ambulances beyond that end date won't put the service in any regulatory trouble, said Popov, though older vehicles tend to incur more maintenance costs. Adding two more spares will increase the number of reserve vehicles from four to six. Goudie writes that keeping the two vehicles beyond their typical lifespan will provide a short-term solution. The costs will include roughly $5,000 for insurance and licensing, with an estimated annual maintenance cost of $6,000 per vehicle.
Asharq Al-Awsat
14-07-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Seven Injured in Residential Building Blast in Outskirts of Iran's Qom
An explosion at a residential building injured seven people in the Pardisan neighborhood of Qom city, Iran's Student News Network reported on Monday, quoting a local emergency official, who added that five ambulances were dispatched to the area. No further details were given.
