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By Darren Rathwell

Paramedic response being timed in Medicine Hat: fire chief

Jan 12, 2022 | 3:33 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Medicine Hat’s fire department is taking new action concerning the code red situation in Alberta, and is timing paramedics to see how long it takes for them to respond to calls.

Local fire officials have taken note of recent code reds, where no paramedics were available to respond in certain areas.

According to the union representing paramedics, the Medicine Hat area saw at least five red alerts, also known as code reds, over two and a half weeks spanning late December and early January.

Medicine Hat’s fire chief says the situation is more severe for areas that are close to major centres, such as Okotoks.

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Nonetheless, local fire crews are now timing paramedics’ response in cases when firefighters arrive to a call first.

“If we see situations that are more than a few minutes of wait times for EMS to arrive, we’ll start flagging that information back to our folks at (Alberta Health Services) and just ask them to analyze it and see if there’s anything they can do to improve the situation,” chief Brian Stauth told CHAT News.

As well as vehicle accidents, Medicine Hat fire crews respond to serious medical calls like cardiac arrest and to patients who’ve lost consciousness.