An ambulance going to Saint-Jean-Port-Joli could not reach its destination because of too steep a slope, to the astonishment of the mother, who had called for help.
Amélie Auger called emergency services at around 9:50 p.m. on February 13 because her eight-month-old boy was showing signs of shortness of breath.
“I acted immediately and it was still quick, but to my surprise they got stuck at the top,” she explains. They didn’t think they could go up the coast, which is an urban coast nonetheless.
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Although the incident did not involve her son this time, Ms Auger fears paramedics may not be able to help them on their next call.
“I was extremely upset because there was shortness of breath, but in the event that it was cardiac arrest, we saw each other pressing the stretcher into the rib, we didn’t really know how to react.” , she says. We were shocked.”
She is not the only one affected by this situation.
“Other residents live here in the bay,” continues Amélie Auger. There are some who have very specific health issues and it is quite disturbing that we are the ones who have to climb the hill to access emergency services.
The mother of the family tried to contact the company Paraxion, head of the emergency services in this area, but could not give her an answer at the moment because the person in charge is not in the office at the moment.
“I contacted Paraxion and they said they would follow up in two weeks after the holidays,” she says.
For his part, the mayor of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli says he is ready to analyze the possibility of the slope softening.
“These are things that you can consider with a lot of work […] who could demand to invade the land of the inhabitants, indicates Normand Caron. We have to see what can be done, but this is the first time since I’ve been mayor that this has led to a problematic situation at this level.
Paraxion did not respond to our interview requests.