EMS dispatchers say they suffered electrical shocks on the job

The people you call when there’s a medical emergency say their workplace is unsafe.

Emergency dispatchers at an EMS operations office in Hamilton say they are being electrically shocked through their headsets. One employee says she’s been living with severe and painful nerve damage since it happened to her nearly two years ago.

“We heard a noise and I felt pain, a lot of pain in my head. So I pulled the headset out. I had never been shocked before so I didn’t know what it was,” said Teresa Adams, Ambulance Communications Officer. “I saw a neurologist and was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia where the three main nerves in your face are damaged.”

A supervisor who works at the dispatch centre says nine employees have suffered severe electrical shocks to their heads and bodies since 2015 and at least 40 others have experienced dangerously loud audio bursts.

The Ministry of Labour is investigating the latest complaint which occurred last week.

The Ministry of Health and long term care, which employs the dispatchers, says it has investigated two incidents and determined they were caused by static and not faulty equipment.