The Capital Health Communication Center has approximately 55 employees. Their job is to answer 911 calls, assist patients, and send ambulance services.

It was planned on 19 December to give priority to emergency medical dispatchers after paramedics [pour la vaccination]The director of the center recalls Daniel Girard.

However, due to difficulty in supplying vaccines, distributors were removed from the priority list in February because they were not in direct contact with patients.

Our risk is an internal outbreak that can compromise service. The dispatchers are the first in this series to allocate ambulance resources.

We see the vaccination of the population. We feel that this should be reconsidered, this is the essential role of the dispatcher..

Labor shortage

Management recommends that hiring workers is difficult among dispatchers, increasing the risk of service breaks in the event of an outbreak.

This is an unaccredited occupationMr. Girard estimates, saying that he cannot rely on an infinite number of employees.

We are 55 dispatchers, but we provide a service to a population of 1.5 million people, Mr. Girard, that Quebec has to say about the region of Saguenay Lac – St. Jean and Nord-du-Quebec.

According to him, some health communication centers have been vaccinated, especially in Mauritius.

Priority to come

The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) ensures that the priority of the next groups will be announced in the coming weeks.

In an email sent to Radio-Canada, the department remembers that, Since the amount of vaccines available is limited, it is necessary to prioritize those who receive them according to their vulnerability to the disease.

Still, according to the ministry, the priority criteria are as follows:

• Age, which is associated with risk of infection, complications and death,
• The existence of one or more pathologies, increasing the risk of complications or death,
• Business that may affect the risk of exposure to the virus and transmission of the virus to vulnerable people,
• Living environment that may also be associated with risk of infection and outbreak.