The chief of Essex-Windsor EMS says there were two separate episodes of Code Black in the region on Wednesday.
"Code Black for Essex-Windsor EMS means that there are no ambulances available to respond to calls within our community," says Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Justin Lammers.
Speaking on AM800's The Kyle Horner Show, chief Lammers says the episodes happened late Wednesday afternoon and lasted for just over 10 minutes.
He says the ambulance service was dealing with high call volume and some difficulties offloading patients at the hospitals.
"But it's not just Code Black; there are periods of Code Red where there are three or less ambulances available," he says. "So it's just escalating from where our ideal state of Code Green, escalating into yellow, red, and black."
Lammers says Code Green, means 12 units are available.
He says Code Black essentially creates a period where EMS resources are unable to keep up with the demand from the community.
"Even though Code Black was only 10 minutes, there's still this period of Code Red where you only got three covering off 2,000 square kilometres, and then when we're in Code Yellow and then we're holding low-acuity calls, so members of the community are waiting longer," he says.
CUPE Local 2974 represents local EMS workers.
The union posted on social media Wednesday night about the Code Black, saying, "April 15: ZERO ambulances available."
The post went on to say, "If your child is hurt, help is delayed, and if your parent is on the floor, they wait."
Local 2974 also said, "This system is broken, and the people holding it together feel it every day."
??CODE BLACK IN ESSEX-WINDSOR
— CUPE Paramedics of Windsor-Essex (@CupeMedics2974) April 15, 2026
April 15
ZERO ambulances available.
If your child is hurt, help is delayed.
If your parent is on the floor, they wait.
This system is broken. The people holding it together feel it every day.
Tell Council enough is enough:https://t.co/1FSP95zn4A pic.twitter.com/wDIrMLHMZY