‘Code reds’ in Medicine Hat reach 11; province announces new EMS plans

A new advisory group will provide immediate and long-term recommendations and will include several stakeholders such as the union representing paramedics in Alberta, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta.

The union says there were 11 code red alerts in Medicine Hat since Jan 5 in which there was no ambulance available to respond to a waiting emergency call.

There were also three times since Jan. 5 when a 12-hour ambulance shift was dropped in Medicine Hat as no paramedics were available during that period.

As well, Medicine Hat ambulances were sent to Calgary on Jan. 10, and twice on Jan 13 paramedics were sent to Medicine Hat from Foremost.

The union’s Mike Parker says he’s just glad there’s finally some movement on paramedic issues, but he needs more information on how new funding will be allocated before he can give the province’s new plans his approval.

“I want to see where that’s going. I want to see how that will end up on the front lines to ensure people are able to respond to the calls that are coming in,” Parker told CHAT News, adding the union will no way support privatization of EMS services.

A number of factors have led to the current crush on the EMS system, “including an unprecedented number of calls that started over the summer, the pandemic on top of pressures we see on the system every winter, the opioid crisis, increased times to transfer patients in emergency because emergency departments are also extremely busy,” Health Minister Jason Copping said.

Copping added other impacts included “an increase in transfers due to COVID-19, staffing challenges across the health care system and beyond, with Omicron adding to two years of pressure on staff. And finally global supply chain issues for new ambulances and delays in getting specialized vehicle parts.”

The province says five actions are already underway as part of it’s 10 point plan:

Hiring more paramedics.
Launching pilot projects to manage non-emergency inter-facility transfers.
Initiating an ‘hours of work’ project to help ease staff fatigue.
Transferring low priority calls to other agencies in consultation with EMS physicians.
Stopping the automatic dispatch of ambulances to motor vehicle collisions that don’t have injuries.

Five additional actions are to come:

Creating a new integrated operations centre in Calgary, bringing paramedic leads and hospital staff together to improve integration, movement of resources and flow of patients.
Evaluation by an emergency communications officer to determine if an ambulance from out of area, though it may be closest to a 911 call, is most appropriate to respond.
Implementing a pilot project in Red Deer that will manage most patient transfers between facilities with dedicated transfer units, freeing up ambulances to handle emergency calls.
Allowing ambulances to be pre-empted from assignments, instead of being automatically dispatched when a 911 call is received, to ensure more ambulances are available for critical patients.
Developing a strategic provincial service plan for EMS delivery in the province.

by Darren Rathwell

‘Code reds’ in Medicine Hat reach 11; province announces new EMS plans

Our Community