Edmonton Ambulance Scheduling Variability
The number of ambulances scheduled fluctuates throughout the day depending on the day of the week and time of day. Our system is designed to peak with over 60 scheduled ambulances in the afternoon and evening Monday through Friday. Weekends and early mornings have the lowest number of scheduled ambulances with numbers dipping into the low 30's. For context, Edmonton has a population of over 1 million people. An EMS model that fluctuates between 30-65 ambulances throughout the week is not robust enough to handle the dynamic call volume that comes from a metropolitan city with over 1 million people.
HSAA Edmonton Paramedics have spent years advocating for a variety of schedules to promote work life balance and increase longevity of EMS careers. While we are pleased that paramedics are being offered more schedule variety, we are disappointed that it is being accomplished by simply rearranging current ambulances as opposed to adding new ambulances. The current amount of ambulances scheduled leave Edmonton with frequent periods of inadequate ambulance coverage.
The number of scheduled ambulances is also different from the actual number of ambulances available. Our recruitment and retention issues continue to result in chronic understaffing. The average staffing in 2025 has been 85%, which is displayed with the orange line. The worst day for staffing in 2025 so far has been 70%, which is displayed with the red line. So far, the month of June 2025 has averaged 84% staffing with the worst day being 75% staffing. There have been times with less than 30 ambulances on the road in Edmonton. Not only do we believe the current staffing model is inadequate but we also recognize that we frequently operate below our scheduled capacity. Both of these factors contribute to a decrease in EMS service for the people of Edmonton. Our high disabling injury rate of 21.14/100 staff, which was showcased in our post on June 18th, is a direct contributor to our inability to properly staff our scheduled ambulances. Paramedics can only provide service to the community if they are healthy enough to work. If we don't make efforts to lower the paramedic disabling injury rate then we will always be chasing staffing targets.
