Extreme Weather Events: Urgences-santé is Ready – Climate Change Resilience Plan – Pre-Hospital Emergency Services released
MONTREAL, April 21, 2026 /CNW/ – As the spring flood season is well underway in the metropolitan area, Urgences-santé is unveiling its Climate Change Resilience Plan. The organization becomes the first in North America–and one of the first in the world–to conduct a structured analysis of how climate events affect pre-hospital emergency services. This process was carried out in collaboration with the emergency measures office of the Direction régionale de santé publique de Montréal and Sûreté du Québec’s emergency measures management team.
“Extreme weather events in recent years, including flooding, ice storms, forest fires, heat waves and winter thaw, have put increasing pressure on our services. Far from being a distant threat, these hazards are a reality that we must prepare for. For example, during ice storms like the one we had last winter, we sometimes get double the amount of calls!” said Jean-Pierre Rouleau, corporate spokesperson for Urgences-santé.
“In light of these growing risks, we must be proactive and structure our response upstream with a broad action plan,” the spokesperson said.
Important milestones have been reached to strengthen the organization, including:
- identifying the territory’s main climate risks based on scientific literature and extensive consultations;
- analyzing the impact on operations, staff and infrastructure; and
- recommending practical mitigating solutions.
Unveiling of this work marks the beginning of an active phase where projects will be prioritized and rolled out across the organization. Our objective is to ensure service continuity when climate events occur.
“In the coming months, we will focus on solutions such as vulnerability mapping, the systematization of post-event climate assessments and proactive stock management. We are also assessing the development of an auxiliary force that can be mobilized during major climate events,” added Mr. Rouleau.
The full Climate Change Resilience Plan – Pre-Hospital Emergency Services is available on Urgences-santé’s website.
Corporate spokesperson Jean-Pierre Rouleau is available for interviews.
About Urgences-santé
Founded in 1989, Urgences-santé is a public company that provides ambulance services in Montréal and Laval through more than 1,100 paramedics who respond to emergency calls. More than 110 dispatchers enable the organization to serve the region at any time of the day, in addition to providing quality patient service. Its mission is to provide quality, effective and appropriate pre-hospital emergency services to more than 2.5 million residents.
SOURCE Urgences-santé
