N.L. emergency services scramble to cover Omicron-related worker shortages – CBC

‘If you need help, call. Someone is going to come,’ says one paramedic

Jan 14, 2022

Newfoundland and Labrador emergency workers and volunteers are scrambling to pick up the slack as numerous staff are forced into isolation due to COVID-19 exposures or positive test results.

Brad Forward, a paramedic in rural Newfoundland, said close to 50 per cent of his co-workers were out due to COVID-19 at one point.

“The workload kind of fell on to those who were still standing,” said Forward in an interview with CBC News. “With the increased case numbers going … through the roof, the fear levels and the stress levels were rising pretty quickly.”

The rapidly spreading Omicron variant has meant hundreds of Newfoundland and Labrador health-care workers are off in isolation at a time when the system is already strained.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nl-emergency-services-omicron-1.6314085