More than 100 paramedics gathered at Nathan Phillips Square Tuesday morning, chanting and waving pickets as they marched in a large circle.

Inside city hall, Toronto’s powerful executive committee was preparing to consider a motion giving paramedics the essential service designation.

via CTV Toronto.

The healthcare blackspots have been identified on maps which flag up gaps in access to services across the island of Ireland.

Among the worst places to live or work for quick emergency access are Kilkee, Co Clare at 69 minutes and nearby Lisdoonvarna at 59 minutes, while Belmullet on the north-west coast is a 68 minute drive and Templemore, Tipperary 45 minutes.

Professor Rob Kitchin, of NUI Maynooth, who drew up the mapping system, said it is as likely the figures will be used to dictate where cuts are made as to identify gaps in services. “It’s probably more likely to be used for where you rationalise rather than where you look to invest or develop,” he said.

Other regions with the worst records for travel time to emergency units staffed by a consultant include Monaghan, Omagh, Tipperary North, Leitrim and Roscommon. The most startling differences showed access to 24 hour hospital A&E takes on average 21 minutes in the Republic but just 16 minutes in Northern Ireland.

via The Press Association

Concern over drug-resistant strains of TB is growing, with similar incurable TB emerging in Italy and Iran.

Doctors in Mumbai said 12 patients had a “totally drug resistant” form of the infection, and three have died.

The Indian Health Ministry is investigating the cases and has sent a team of doctors to Mumbai.

via BBC News

via Medic Madness.

The crash happened on PR 250 on Jan. 5.

At the time of the collision, the ambulance was transporting a patient in a non-emergency call from Melita to Brandon.

Witnesses suggested it appeared the driver of a southbound car crossed the centre line and collided with the ambulance. The 54-year-old driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two paramedics and a patient in the ambulance were rushed to hospital with injuries from the collision.

The first paramedic, Gene Banks, was sent to hospital with critical injuries, but relatives said Jan. 12 he is now in stable.

The second paramedic, Rick Bugg, was released from hospital after being treated but has returned to be by his partner’s side while he recovers.

via Paramedic seriously injured in Souris collision recovering in hospital; family issues statement | CTV Winnipeg.

Read more USA news and other good stuff at EMS1.com.

On Monday, three vehicles were involved in a collision around 5:45 p.m. at Corydon Avenue and Stafford Street.

Paramedic Cory Wilson was on his way back to the station from another call when he came upon the collision and stopped to help.

Moments later, he would be hit himself.

“I just heard the noise and the truck hit me and I stumbled a few steps and wondered what was going on,” said Wilson.

He was helping a woman inside a pickup truck when he was hit by another truck.

via CTV Winnipeg.

The man, surnamed Chen, died in Shenzhen – a booming industrial town that borders Hong Kong – where thousands of chickens have already been culled after three birds tested positive for avian influenza virus in mid-December.

He developed a fever on December 21 and was taken to hospital four days later. He was then diagnosed with severe pneumonia, said the health department in Shenzhen, a city of more than 10 million people.

The 39-year-old later tested positive for the H5N1 virus, despite having had no direct contact with poultry in the month before he was taken ill.

via Telegraph.

Emergency Medical Service workers in Ontario and Nova Scotia were invited to take part in the study while attending a continuing education seminar this year, and 90 per cent responded.

More than 1,300 paramedics were asked if they had directly been the victims of various forms of violence within the previous 12 months.

Verbal abuse was the most commonly reported among 67.4 per cent EMS workers surveyed, while intimidation was reported by 41.5 per cent of respondents.

Some 26.1 per cent polled reported being physically abused, 13.6 per cent reported sexual harassment, and 2.7 per cent reported sexual assault.

via CTV Toronto.

Twenty-eight per cent of the calls received in a month were refused due to unavailability of ambulances . Of the 70,768 calls received during the period, only 51,124 could be attended to. The average response time – time taken to reach the site after receiving the call – was found to be about 10 minutes, which is more than the norm of eight minutes. “Also, there is no clarity on where a patient with a particular kind injury should be taken to or data on the vacant beds in hospitals,” said Dr Angel Rajan Singh, who headed the research.

via Ambulance service needs an overhaul – The Times of India.