Having just come back from the Maritime fire chiefs conference in Nova Scotia where coverage of the Toronto city workers strike was sparse, at best, I missed the first stories on the Toronto ambulance that allegedly took more than half an hour to arrive at an apartment building where a man died while waiting for paramedics, and the ensuing debate and media coverage.

In the latest installment, CTV news has managed to get audio records from the security company at the apartment building that detail the times of the 911 calls and the ambulance arrival 37 minutes later.

The ministry of health is investigating and some have blamed the Toronto city workers strike for delays.

EMS, an essential service, has been staffed at 75 per cent during the strike.

EMS Chief Bruce Farr said Tuesday that the response was not related to the labour disruption.

He said paramedics got to the scene in nine minutes but waited for police backup out of concern for their safety. (That statement has not yet been explained.) Paramedics went to help Hearst when his condition worsened, Farr said.

Stay tuned.

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