Freezing rain and early flu season drive surge in 911 calls, strain Montreal ERs

A wave of freezing rain combined with an early and intense flu season has pushed 911 call volumes near record levels in Quebec during the holiday period, according to Urgences-santé, while emergency rooms across the province are operating beyond capacity.

On Monday alone, paramedics responded to 1,358 calls, one of the busiest days in the organization’s history. The spike came as freezing rain coated sidewalks across Montreal, creating hazardous conditions for pedestrians.

“This year, what’s a little particular is that the levels of influenza have increased much quicker than the past years,” said Robin Marie Coleman, chief executive director of operations and coordination at Santé Québec.

Emergency rooms across the province are once again overwhelmed, driven by a combination of weather-related injuries and an unusually early and intense flu season.

“We hit 1,358 calls, and it was the second day most occupied by Urgences-santé in its history,” said spokesperson Alexandre Sapone. “We haven’t set the new record, but it has been up there.”

Overnight freezing rain turned sidewalks into ice rinks, leading to a sharp rise in slip-and-fall injuries and ambulance dispatches. Urgences-santé says it handled nearly 50 per cent more calls than usual, compared with its daily average of about 900.

“We’ve seen in the past couple of days an increase between 9-ish, all the way up to about 3, 4 o’clock in the afternoon, spikes that are hitting more around the 70-ish calls an hour,” Sapone said.

The strain on ambulance services comes as emergency room stretchers across Quebec are operating at 128 per cent capacity.

In a statement to CityNews, Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital said emergency departments across the city are seeing the typical winter surge.

“Emergency departments across Montreal, including at the Jewish General Hospital, are experiencing the typical winter surge driven by both weather conditions and seasonal respiratory illnesses,” the hospital said. “Recent ice and freezing rain have contributed to an increase in slip-and-fall injuries, though specific numbers for weather-related visits are not yet available. At the same time, we are seeing higher volumes of patients with respiratory viruses such as influenza and COVID-19.”

The hospital also urged residents to wear proper winter footwear, walk carefully on icy sidewalks and use handrails when available, while continuing basic illness-prevention measures such as hand washing and mask wearing when sick.

“We have levels that are higher as far as influenza is concerned than they were at the peak at the end of January last year,” Coleman said.

Santé Québec reports that emergency rooms in Montreal are now operating at 135 per cent capacity, though officials note that only about half of ER visits require urgent care.

To help reduce overcrowding, residents are being urged to call the Info-Santé 811 phone line before heading to the emergency room.

“We’d like to have a crystal ball and be able to say that we’re in the peak right now, but we can’t say that, so the next weeks we’ll have to follow it very closely to see what levels we will achieve,” Coleman said.

Officials say only one in six 811 calls are transferred to emergency services, and that the line has seen a 20 per cent increase in calls compared with last year.

“Which means that people are understanding, better understanding the service that’s available,” Coleman added. “The biggest way to achieve the right level of occupancies is to have the contribution of everyone in order to use all the resources in the best way possible.”