Council hears concerns about EMS availability; members consider incentives and county funding request

Orangeville City Council members heard an extended update and discussion about local emergency medical services during the June 11 meeting, as EMS representatives and council members described low availability and explored funding and incentive options.

Council and EMS staff said Orangeville’s ambulance availability had dropped to roughly 14% in April and 24% in May, and that average response times cited in the discussion were about 24–25 minutes. Participants said recruitment and retention are the primary problems: on-call pay for daytime shifts is low (examples discussed: $3–$5 on-call per hour cited in the discussion), making it difficult to keep staff signed up for shifts. Council and EMS representatives discussed sending staff to advanced classes (cost cited at $700 per student) to increase skills and pay tiers.

Council members discussed a proposal to ask the county commissioners for a combined $200,000 in CRA and PILT funds to increase retention and raise wages; staff said those funds are not guaranteed. Other ideas discussed included property-tax incentives for EMS personnel and reworking on-call pay to make being available more financially viable. Council members also discussed cross-jurisdiction staffing and combining services with neighboring garages, but several participants warned that combining operations could lengthen response times.

No formal funding decision was made at the meeting; council members said they planned to approach the county commissioners and continue discussing incentives and training options.