Since Alberta municipalities, including Cochrane, began divesting control over ambulances to Alberta Health Services (AHS) in 2009, the contentious issue over alleged longer response times for those in need of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) continues.
The consensus among first responders seems to be frustration at a system they feel is impacting EMS for Albertans.
The province (AHS) maintains that EMS operations continue to provide an overall high level of care.
“Alberta Health Services is constantly reviewing its EMS operations to ensure patients continue to receive high quality care,” said Nick Thain, executive director of Calgary Zone EMS.
“Sometimes additional resources are required, while other times it’s a matter of using existing resources better. Our borderless system gives us more flexibility to make sure there are always emergency resources available to provide care.”
Two paramedics, who have been guaranteed anonymity by the Eagle for fear of repercussions, spoke candidly over what they both referred to as a health care crisis.
One paramedic said that the problem stems from a multitude of issues — including a decrease in public education to inform people of when to use emergency services; less availability of family doctors; lengthy waitlists for long-term beds; longer response times with too much pressure on paramedics to provide EMS (gaps that could be filled by other industry professionals); and outright public abuse of the system.
This first responder estimates that as much as 85 per cent of all service calls are non-life threatening or non-emergency calls.
“People call 911 and think they will get in to see a doctor faster when they’re accompanied by us (paramedics)…this is a complete fallacy and they end up waiting longer because we are equipped with the ability to treat them.”
This individual said that over the month of December, Calgary and area ambulances were on ‘red alert’ daily — meaning there were no available ambulances, resulting in longer wait times and potentially higher risks for those in life-threatening situations.
“There is no reason a town the size of Cochrane can’t have a 24-hour paramedic,” said the first responder, suggesting that the gaps could be filled by Paramedic Response Units (single paramedics fully trained and equipped to administer medical care, without the ability to transport people), as well as equipping fire trucks with drugs and advanced life saving equipment (like they were prior to 2010).
“We are seeing higher call volumes in the Calgary Zone and across the province, partly as a result of a growing and aging population,” explained Thain.
“We also generally see a spike in the winter months as a result of an increase in things such as flu-like symptoms and weather related injuries. EMS will always respond if someone calls for help and uses resources like community paramedics and non-ambulance transfer vehicles, like wheelchair-equipped vans, to ensure patients get the right care when and where they need it.”
The second paramedic the Eagle spoke with confirmed the sentiments expressed by the first paramedic with enthusiasm, referring to the Calgary and area situation as ‘desperate’.
This first responder highlighted the model that Canmore has adopted to ensure the highest level of first response assistance can be provided to those in need of assistance.
In June 2013, Canmore council approved a two-year extension to the ‘advanced life support (ALS) capable medical response pilot project’, a pilot project launched in 2012.
The cost to the Town of Canmore is $6,000 per year to ensure that Canmore Fire-Rescue trucks are equipped to provide ALS — including the medication, equipment (and training) and a medical director.
“As a tourist town, all you need is one bad situation,” said two-term Canmore councillor Joanna McCallum, adding that the program is ‘money well-spent’ and that it takes advantage of available resources — considering that many firefighters are cross-trained as paramedics.
While the project maintains that the number of ALS calls is low (around three per year), the small cost to the town ensures that increased patient care in Canmore justifies the need for the program.
Canmore Fire-Rescue was requested to provide assistance in the event that no EMS resources were available between 13-20 times each year, from 2012-2014.
Jared Wallace has been president of the Cochrane Firefighters Association since 2010. He said that the transition was a challenge, where firefighters who formerly doubled as paramedics were uncertain of their new role, as well as having to transition from fully stocked fire trucks (the same as EMS vehicles) to only having basic life saving resources on hand.
He said concerns remain, that even though Cochrane Fire ‘does attend all life-threatening medical calls and any medical call when the ambulance is greater than 20 minutes away’, without the trucks being equipped with ALS equipment, there have been instances when staff firefighters with paramedic training could have provided more assistance, had they had the equipment on deck to do so.
“It’s definitely been frustrating,” said Wallace, who continues to appeal to the Town of Cochrane to adopt a model similar to that in Canmore.
“It’s a small cost for such a large benefit to the community,” said Wallace. “We’re public servants — it’s about so much more than fighting fires.”
There are currently 18 full time and 31 casual Cochrane Fire Services members. The department has strong mutual aid partnerships with neighbouring municipalities — including Rocky View County and Calgary Fire Services.
“In 2010, the town divested our EMS service to AHS as they changed to a provincial operating model,” explained Laurie Drukier, senior communications advisor for the Town of Cochrane.
“Since then, council and administration work collaboratively and meet regularly with AHS to determine operational requirements and community needs. Cochrane Fire continues to provide medical co-response in town.”
Wallace said that response times may also be influenced by a number of factors — while some response times may be longer, statistics may indicate they are going down since the Urgent Care Centre opened in 2011 (right next to the Cochrane firehall).
Both paramedics interviewed by the Eagle agreed with Wallace’s remarks that the adoption of a model much like the one in Canmore would likely solve some of the EMS gaps — and potentially save more lives.
