With service calls skyrocketing, the Leeds and Grenville Joint Services Committee has approved the hiring of four full-time paramedics and one full-time supervisor.
Paramedic Services Chief Chris Lloyd says the system is already running at full capacity.
From 2010 to 2015, the average yearly amount of paramedic service calls has risen to almost 21,000, a spike of over 3,500 calls per year.
Lloyd says it will only get worse, with calls expected to rise by over 4 percent more in 2017.
There are currently 52 full-time and 45 part-time paramedics employed in the Leeds and Grenville area, along with four supervisors. The new hiring’s will cost over $600,000 dollars.
