Doctors worry relocating medevac services could put patients at risk

EDMONTON – A group of doctors from Edmonton and northern Alberta is calling on the province to stop the relocation of medevac services.

Each year, thousands of patients are transferred to Edmonton by ambulance. Right now, a patient arrives at the City Centre Airport and an ambulance takes them to the Royal Alexandra Hospital; a transfer which can take minutes.

In March, the new fixed wing air ambulance base is set to move from the City Centre Airport to the Edmonton International Airport. some doctors are worried that the relocation could triple transfer time, and the extra minutes could mean the difference between life and death for some patients.

“There’s no way these numbers are ever going to match what we have: five mintues. It’s 1,400 metres from the City Centre airport to the front doors of the Royal Alexandra hospital,” says Dr. Kerry Pawluski, with the Save Our Medevac Service Society. “Cease and desist until you’ve got some alternatives that will continue to provide medical care with the efficiencies we currently have.”

The government insists patients’ health will not be jeopardized, though, and says it will not override Edmonton’s decision to close the City Centre Airport.

Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk is convinced moving beside the new STARS hangar will actually mean even better care for Albertans.

“Once they see the facility at the airport,” he says, “and the level of care that that facility offers patients just upon landing, which was not available (at the City Centre Airport), those doctors will change their position on it.”

But it’s not just doctors who want to stop the move. Mayors north of Edmonton are also concerned, and the Opposition party says despite urgent care beds at the new base, patients will suffer.

“The local doctors would have already determined the person needs emergency medical care. In fact, if they’re stuck at a triage unit, it’s going to delay their emergency services even longer,” says Wildrose MLA Shayne Saskiw.

Health Minister Fred Horne says the base will include a six-bed patient area staffed by paramedics.

According to the Health Quality Council of Alberta, about 3,000 patients are transferred to Edmonton every year. It says seven per cent of the medevac patients are flown in for critical care.

With files from Kendra Slugoski, Global News