Northumberland County councillors heard positive updates about paramedic services during the latest meeting of the county’s Community Health Committee.
The annual report from Northumberland Paramedics shows the service met or exceeded response time targets for every category of emergency call in 2025, from non urgent incidents to life threatening emergencies.
Paramedics responded to over 19,000 calls last year across a service area covering about 1,905 square kilometres. Stations in Cobourg, Port Hope, Colborne, Roseneath, Campbellford and Brighton support emergency response across the county.
Paramedic vehicles travelled more than 782,000 kilometres in 2025 while responding to calls, using nearly 200,000 litres of fuel.
The report also highlighted ongoing challenges with hospital offload delays. In 2025, paramedics spent over 1,000 hours waiting to transfer patients at hospitals, an increase from about 717 hours the previous year. The county has applied for provincial funding to support offload nursing assistance aimed at reducing those delays.
Councillors also heard about continued growth in the Community Paramedicine program. The service enrolled 561 new clients in 2025, bringing the total number of active clients to 1,675 across Northumberland County.
Community paramedics provide non emergency services such as wellness checks, medication management, blood draws, hospital discharge follow ups and referrals to other health services.
A new virtual wellness library has also been introduced, offering online health resources including exercise programs, fall prevention information and educational materials.
A survey conducted in 2025 found 92.5 percent of clients reported being satisfied with the community paramedicine program.
(Written by: Joseph Goden)
