The Cochrane EMS Crisis Community Action Group (CAG) presented at the Town of Cochrane’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Feb. 6, seeking Town council’s assistance in working together to improve EMS coverage in Cochrane and area.
Chair of the CAG, Brian Winter, brought more than his 30 years of paramedic experience to the table on this night. He brought his personal experience.
Winter arrived at Cochrane Urgent Care by private vehicle on an afternoon in December, with chest pains and an elevated heart rate. He waited 90 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to take him to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.
There were no Cochrane ambulances available – a situation referred to as a “Code Red” in the EMS sector.
The incident illustrated the first item on the list of reforms the CAG asked council for. Namely, that Cochrane-based ambulances must remain in the Cochrane service area, and are not to be “flexed” to other communities other than in exceptional circumstances.
“If there is a large-scale event with multiple casualties in Cochrane, there is an incorrect assumption that ambulances will be available,” Winter said, calling on council to take action on the ongoing issue.
“Every day of delay puts citizens at risk,” he said.
The CAG asked council to “vigorously advocate for” two reforms in particular: that Cochrane-based ambulances must not wait in hospital emergency hallways (patients should be off-loaded, allowing the ambulance to return to Cochrane without delay); and that Cochrane-based ambulances must not do patient transfers under any circumstances.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) took over responsibility for ambulatory services from municipalities in 2009.
When municipalities ran the service, if an ambulance took a patient to a Calgary hospital, they returned immediately to Cochrane afterwards. Now, after a drop-off, ambulances are often dispatched to other Calgary calls, or even as far away as Banff.
The CAG is also asking council to provide funding for Cochrane’s fire department to purchase a Fire/Paramedical Response Vehicle (FPRV), a vehicle that looks like an ambulance, but is not.
Winter said several other municipalities use FPRVs to provide a warm and secure base for care and for patient transport when needed.
Coun. Alex Reid asked Winter why the Town should get involved in what has been a provincial government jurisdiction.
“They’ve had since 2009 to fix the problem and they haven’t,” Winter replied.
Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung assured Winter the Town is keeping pressure on the issue with the province, adding he was meeting with the health minister as early as next week. He promised he will bring up the possibility of additional interim provincial funding to address gaps in EMS.
Genung said that since paramedics are AHS employees and the EMS dispatch system is also is run by the provincial health authority, adding vehicles to the system may not be as simple as it sounds on the surface.
