Although the County of Essex rescinded the emergency declaration last week, the Essex County EMS continues to deal with high call volumes.
The service continues to issue Code Blacks or Code Reds when there are few to no ambulances available to send to emergency calls. However, Chief Bruce Krauter says the situation has stabilized slightly.
"The partners such as the hospitals, EMS and some of the other health care partners are working day and night to mitigate those as best we can," said Krauter.
A person has been placed in the dispatch centre to help navigate the calls and hospitals continue to adjust the flow to open up the emergency departments.
In addition, Essex County EMS has also applied for funding for multiple programs from the Ministry of Health. The service is looking for more funding for off-load nursing at hospitals and adjusting the model of care to allow paramedics to treat and refer.
Krauter is encouraging residents who feel unwell and need to visit the emergency department to examine whether EMS is the right call to make.
Currently around 35 per cent of people attending emergency departments in Windsor-Essex arrive by ambulance. The provincial average is 20 per cent.
