The province has a principle of “seamlessness” that says the closest ambulance, no matter which jurisdiction it belongs to, must respond to the call. Most of the drama between Prescott and Russell and Ottawa comes when there’s a spike in calls around central Ottawa, bringing city paramedics closer to the core and leaving the rural areas for neighbouring municipalities’ paramedics to cover.
The City of Ottawa isn’t compelled to compensate other municipalities when their paramedics answer calls in the city.
Prescott and Russell has been particularly vocal and bitter about this. The municipality has sent invoices to Ottawa City Hall and Queen’s Park, knowing it won’t get a cheque in return, and has filed complaints to the province about the number of its ambulances dispatched to Ottawa.
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