One of the suspended employees at AmbuTrans Northwest is speaking out about his punishment.
Last week, Thunder Bay Police and the MTO conducted a safety inspection of the private company's fleet and two of the three patient transfer vehicles were pulled off the road.
Attendant driver Alex Walsh was one of four employees who were suspended for a week without pay, pending the company's investigation into the case.
AmbuTrans President David Allin said the staff were suspended for not informing management that the vehicles were being taken in for inspection. Walsh calls the punishment ludicrous, because the drivers were in contact with dispatchers at the head office in Toronto when they were told to bring the vehicles in for inspection. He thinks the company is blaming them unfairly, when it was the vehicles which failed the test.
Allin said Walsh's facts are wrong, and contends the AmbuTrans crews acted on their own volition when they brought the vehicles to the inspection site without following the proper protocols. Walsh and another employee have since tendered their resignations, citing their treatment by the company.
One of the AmbuTrans vehicles remains parked behind the Regional Hospital with its license plates removed, because of mechanical defects and other issues. Allin said they're discussing the issue with city police tomorrow.
