This was emailed to the following Conservative cabinet ministers and MPPs; they all have CACCs in their ridings:

Health Minister Tony Clement
Labour Minister Brad Clark
Colleges Minister Diane Cunningham
Finance Minister Janet Ecker
Community, Family and Children’s Services Minister Brenda Elliott
Premier Ernie Eves
Enterprise Minister Jim Flaherty
Agriculture Minister Helen Johns
Parliamentary Assistant, Transportation, Bart Maves
Parliamentary Assistant, Management Board, Julia Munro
Attorney General Norm Sterling
Parliamentary Assistant, Ministry of Natural Resources, Gary Stewart
Management Board Chair David Tsubouchi
Northern Development Minister Jim Wilson
Education Minister Elizabeth Witmer

April 24, 2003

Ladies and Gentlemen:

        It is important that you read and digest the content of this email. It is addressed to and includes all of the Honourable Members of Parliament as noted above. Please take the time to read it thoroughly.

        I am an Emergency Communications Officer employed by the Central Ambulance Communications Center (CACC) located in London. I have been employed here for the past fifteen years and presently serve as a shift supervisor. In the course of my tenure with the Emergency Health Services Branch of the Ministry of Health, I have seen many changes, both good and bad, implemented by the government of the day, that impacted profoundly upon the operation of these CACCs. At this time another change has to be made by this government to solve the crisis which exists within all the provincial CACCs.

        We pleaded with governments present and past to pay attention to what we were trying to forwarn about. We tried desperately to tell you that the CACCs were understaffed, overworked and underpaid. I acknowledge that everyone in every profession also assert the same of their jobs, but in our case we spoke the truth. As a result of the working conditions and poor compensation, we began losing experienced professional emergency communicators. They were burned out and tired of working for a government who was wantonly blind to our situation. We hired inexperienced staff to replace them but only 30% of those stay on after they see the working conditions within the CACCs. 

        How does this impact upon the citizens of Ontario and ultimately upon you? The job of an emergency communicator is very complex and takes years of experience to perform at peak levels. We are the most highly trained of the three emergency services. Unlike the police and fire communicators, were have to make life and death decisions, in a split second, AND be right EVERYTIME or someone dies! Think about that for a moment. If there are insufficient experienced professionals to handle these emergencies, people die. We do not have sufficient experienced communicators in our CACCs now and people ARE dying as a result of the diminished level of proficiency.

        For several years we have been lobbying your government to investigate our situation. Finally, in June of 2000, someone at Queens Park started listening and as a result, the government sanctioned the IBI Group to do a study of the CACCs, to see if our complaints were bona fide. The result of that study was very clear. It resoundingly supported our assertions that we were overworked, under-staffed and under-paid. The report made recommendations that included hiring more staff and increasing our wages "to reflect the current market and the complexity of dispatcher functions". The government suppressed the IBI report until after the OPSEU strike of 2001. When it was made available, the government fudged when it came time to implement the recommendations contained therein.

        Having said all of this, I say that the crisis still exists within the CACCs. The government has given the green light to hire more staff, but they are not staying. As soon as they see our workload and pitifull compensation, they bolt to police and fire or to the public sector, where they can do a fraction of the work, have a fraction of the responsibility and stress and get paid on average 40% more than our pay rate. We cannot get the experienced staff that is required to perform the duties at the level it must be performed. We cannot get these people to stay unless we make it attractive enough to do so.

        The time for change is nigh. It is time you implemented ALL of the recommendations of the IBI report. That is the only way we can assure that the citizens of Ontario get the ambulance service delivery in the most expediant and professional manner possible. They deserve it. I invite each of you to search your soul and discover whether or not you, individually and collectively, have the integrity to ensure the IBI recommendations are implemented immediately. You have the power and means to do so. The question begs: Do you have the intestinal fortitude to do so? I believe you do.

        We in this profession still care about the public's safety. We feel the pain and anguish of the patients and their families every day. People will continue to die unless these changes are implemented. We do not want any more patients to die unnecessarily. Do you? 

David Potts
Unit Steward, OPSEU Local 147
London Central Ambulance Communications Centre