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My dad could still be alive, but he's not

(www.jenn.site)
367 points DustinEchoes | 1 comments | 13 Nov 25 02:17 UTC | HN request time: 0.298s | source
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vondur ◴[13 Nov 25 02:44 UTC] No.45909875[source]▶
This is horrible. What is going on in Toronto that ambulances take 30 minutes to respond?
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torton ◴[13 Nov 25 02:48 UTC] No.45909902[source]▶
TL;DR chronic underfunding of the system, here's one example article:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ambulance-response-ti...

The federal government shifts the responsibility to the provinces, the provinces in turn try to download as much as possible onto the cities. There's not enough money for everything on every level of the government.

This also reflects on 911/dispatch systems, where there indeed might not be easy visibility of when an ambulance might be available, and even then it could be preempted by a higher priority call -- although a heart attack has to be close to the top of the list.

There are also occasional weather events, like the storm two days ago, that cause a surge in demand (>300 crashes reported and many of them needed attending to).

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1. trnglina ◴[13 Nov 25 04:03 UTC] No.45910475[source]▶
Healthcare is one of the exclusive powers of the provinces, as laid out in the constitution. There are things the federal government can do, such as provide money, but provincial leaders complaining about lack of federal involvement do so in bad faith; they would certainly complain louder if the federal government overstepped their bounds. It's worth pointing out that taxation and borrowing are also constitutionally protected powers of the province.