Cochrane paramedics might not find themselves diverted to Calgary medical emergencies as much in the future.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced Tuesday the province will be adding an additional 10 new community paramedics for each Calgary and Edmonton.
The initiative coincides with an expansion program, which will allow paramedics to treat seniors at home in non-emergency situations instead of having to take them to a hospital.
“Community paramedics reduce stress for patients and their families, but also improve access to medical care for vulnerable people,” said Darren Sandbeck, EMS chief paramedic, Alberta Health Services. “By reducing the pressure on hospitals, teams have positive flow-on effects for the entire health-care system.”
The additional paramedic staff in Calgary will have a direct impact on the Cochrane area, according to Dale Weiss, executive director at AHS.
“It will directly impact the EMS service that already exists in Cochrane. The frontline staff there will have the ability to access this co-ordination centre when they respond to a patient that perhaps doesn’t want to go to a hospital (but) have some emerging medical needs,” Weiss said.
With the addition of the call centre, paramedics will have the ability to provide on-site care to seniors and other Albertans with chronic conditions and redirect them to community resources, reducing the use of ambulance transport; acute care beds and hospital resources.
According to last year’s data from AHS on Cochrane, roughly half of all ambulances calls are defined as emergency calls. The other half is comprised of non-emergency and transfer calls.
The program, which will see the new paramedics working out of dedicated call centres in Calgary and Edmonton, will cost $11 million.
“It will be manned by paramedics who have special training and awareness of the community resources that are available in the area,” Weiss said.
Another 26 paramedics will form new teams for home and continuing care patients in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Camrose/Wetaskiwin, Grande Prairie and Peace River.
Brandy Payne, Alberta associate minister of health, said the new paramedics and specialized call centre will reduce the need for taking all patients transported by an ambulance to the hospital.
“When we help Albertans avoid stressful trips to the emergency department, everyone wins. These paramedics are effective and compassionate frontline workers, helping Albertans get the right care at the right time, right in their own homes.”
According to the Alberta government, more than 90 per cent of patients referred to community paramedics can be treated on-site, as needed or on a regularly scheduled basis. Community paramedics are trained in sutures and wound treatment, diagnostics and electrocardiograms, IV treatments and blood transfusions. Paramedics consult with each patient’s doctor, but are also supported by on-call physicians.
The first of two call centers in the province opened Feb. 12 in Edmonton. The Calgary center is expected to open April 26.
