The Town of Essex council has shown their support in trying to bring more awareness to issues surrounding EMS and Emergency Department pressures throughout the region.
On Monday, the County of Essex declared a declared a local emergency in response to ongoing delays faced by EMS in offloading patients at area hospitals.
This emergency comes following consistent 'Code Blacks' that Essex Windsor EMS have been facing.
A 'Code Black' is when there are no ambulances available to respond to emergency calls because paramedics are waiting at a hospital to off-load the patient.
Deputy Mayor Steve Bjorkman started a discussion during Monday evening's council meeting, asking for input from councillors so he can present a motion to County Council on Wednesday.
He says that this system does not work, and improvements need to be made.
"This is costing the County of Essex millions of dollars. We have ambulances and paramedics stationed in hospital parking lots that are pretty much using our ambulances the way school boards use portables. We're housing patients in an ambulance with two caregivers. There has to be a way to improve this."
Councillor Sherry Bondy says on top of the pressures that already exist, frontline workers and EMS are exhausted.
"They're burnt out. They're frankly burnt out. I hear this all the time, EMS contact me, because you sit in that mentality of being stressed out all the time and it's taking a toll on their mental health. Not only are there not enough beds, our paramedics, our frontline staff are frankly burnt out too. So, we have to look at it in a holistic way."
Councillor Chris Vander Doelen says both the hospitals and the province are responsible for the actions made when it comes to health care.
"Nobody can deny that our health care system is way past its breaking point. It's actually breaking down in front of us right now. I would also like to include the hospitals because it isn't the Minister of Health who's deciding to leave these patients in the parking lot, it's local health care officials who are making these decisions, and they're not made the same way at every hospital."
As of October 14, a total of 491 'Code Blacks' had been issued by Essex Windsor EMS during October, compared to 116 in all of September.
A report will be brought forward to County Council Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.