There are further concerns about a detour around the washed-out Route 114 in Albert County, New Brunswick after a recent trip in an ambulance was made more harrowing by the road conditions.
Last week, Jeff Cook's 19-year-old son suffered a back injury while playing hockey at the Hillsborough arena, leaving his lower body numb.
“We were in the dressing room and we heard a commotion and the door opened,” says Cook. “They opened the door to our dressing room, basically two guys were carrying him in.”
Fearing spinal damage, Cook's thoughts turned to the ride his son was facing to the Moncton hospital, a bumpy 20 minute detour.
Cook's wife rode in the ambulance with her son.
“She said the attendant was trying to get a blood pressure reading and had to basically lean over and put one hand on the one wall, and his butt on the other, just to stabilize himself,” says Cook.
Cook's son is going to be okay, feeling has returned to his legs and feet. He says he now worries what will happen if there is a more serious medical emergency.
Ambulance New Brunswick says changes have been made to better accommodate the inconvenience of the bumpy detour.
In an email to CTV News they say: "We have added an extra ambulance in Hillsborough, 24/7. We are monitoring the situation continuously. We have also added the road closure to our computer-assisted dispatch system. We always ensure that the closest ambulance is assigned to the 911 calls."
Work on the washout is steady, but road conditions are worsening the longer it takes. There are signs warning motorists, but people who regularly drive the detour say the road is dangerous.
“Some of those really bad spots are on corners and if you are on the opposite side of the road trying to avoid those holes and somebody's coming around the other side,” says Hillsborough resident Tammy Burrell. “Somebody's going to get hit; it's only a matter of time.”
A temporary bridge is expected to be in place by mid-May.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis
