The province is allowing municipalities to experiment with sending firefighters and not paramedics on 9-1-1 calls for emergency assistance, but a recent union poll suggests most people wouldn't be ok with that.
Sudbury's paramedics say their new poll is cut and dry. When people call 9-1-1 for a medical emergency, they want an ambulance, not a fire truck.
The poll, commissioned by Canadian Union of Public Employees surveyed just over 600 people in Sudbury.
It says almost 90% of people responding prefer an ambulance to show up to a medical emergency, while only 8% would want a fire truck.
The union's local 4705 president, Darryl Taylor, says the results show Sudburians don't want to see drastic changes to the way emergency calls are dispatched.
"Paramedics are very highly skilled and trained in the area we do. It's two years of specialized training, with a lot of oversight from physicians and the government and we are the medical professionals." said Taylor.
However, rising costs in emergency service departments across the province have cities like Sudbury scrambling to reign in their budgets.
Taylor says this isn't the answer.
"Paramedics on board ambulances in a two-man crew is the most cost-efficient and responsible way to provide the service to citizens here in Sudbury and across the province." said Taylor.
The union might be getting ahead of itself though.
In a statement, Mayor Brian Bigger says:
"Council has not received information from the province or city staff to make a decision on a pilot as outlined by CUPE. As a council we respect the hard work of all of our emergency services staff and thank them for their tremendous service to the community."
Despite what the union's poll shows, what the public wants might clash with fiscal realities.
Statistics say fire departments are responding to far fewer “serious” fires than ever before. That has many in government saying it's time to broaden the role of the firefighter, to justify their cost.
