Meet the people who keep Montreal's fleet of ambulances up and running
Take a look behind the scenes at Urgences-Santé
While we often hear about the work of paramedics, there are many people working behind the scenes at Urgences-Santé.
People like Jérôme Lacombe-Cliche — support staff who ensure Urgences-Santé's fleet of ambulances remains up and running.
Lacombe-Cliche fills out a checklist for every single ambulance before it gets on the road.
"Everything is important in a truck," he said. "It's a lot of small details. Everything counts; everything has to be working."
First, the truck is refueled and fluid levels are checked under the hood. Then, the ambulance gets a thorough scrubbing.
Support staff examine the inside of the vehicle to make sure the equipment stocked inside functions properly.
They have to check the onboard defibrillator, and make sure the ambulance is properly stocked with medical tools.
"We have to make sure nothing is missing," said Lacombe-Cliche.
Montreal's ambulance service has been on a hiring blitz since March, which means more ambulances on the road, and there's a greater need for teams working behind the scenes.
About 80 trucks per day can go out of one garage, Lacombe-Cliche said. That equals about one ambulance being processed every 15 minutes.
"It's a big supply chain working in a very efficient way," said spokesperson Eddy Afram.
With files from CBC's Matt D'Amours