EDMONTON – George Porter, a veteran paramedic who has driven an ambulance for 40 years, and who was interviewed for Global’s Code Red series, blogs about AHS’ response to the coverage:
After due consideration of the recent media reports on EMS, I feel compelled to respond to the feedback received.
I will address the January 2015 publication of “AHS – Beyond the Headlines”. It doesn’t say who the author is.
It states: “Recent media reports have suggested patient care has been compromised as a result of longer response times. This is absolutely not true.”
Absolutely not true?? Tell that to the families that are beginning to come forth with their stories of waiting too long for an ambulance. You are trying to convince EMS staff that this is not happening? Seriously? This is denial in the face of obvious fact. You are either misinformed or attempting to misinform.
“EMS has added nearly 20 non-ambulance transport vehicles since 2009 to help free up more front line ambulances for emergenices. We’re exploring different opportunities to add additional non-ambulance vehicles to more communities in 2015.”
Interesting concept and expense if ambulance availability is not an issue with AHS. “Exploring”? How about just “doing”?
“It is inevitable that ambulance response times to isolated locations will be longer, but that is when AHS uses other resources to ensure rapid response, including STARS helicopters, air ambulance planes, and local medical first responders.”
Rural people accept the fact that emergency responses will be longer. What they don’t accept, are responses two, three, four times longer than expected. STARS helicopters and air ambulance planes are responding to scene calls when we can’t get an ambulance there in a reasonable time frame? Not in southern Alberta, they’re not. Nor central Alberta, that I’m aware of. Not to take anything away from STARS, but they aren’t about to be flying about on ambulance responses to see if they are in fact needed. That’s not what STARS is here for. Who, and where, are these medical first responders that are AHS resources?
READ MORE: Code Red Part 1: Paramedics warn of lengthening response times
“We’re working to find new and innovative ways to help provide the best care to patients, including;
– “Dedicated Community Paramedic Programs.” – A pilot program, and only in the city.
– “Testing rapid response units in Edmonton hospitals to see if having nurses take over patient care can help to get EMS crews back on the streets quicker.” – Really? You have to TEST this? What else can I say?
– “Transferring less serious patients to other EMS crews to help reduce wait times in hospitals.” – This is not “new” nor “innovative.” We’ve been doing this for years now. It still ties up crews in the hospitals.
“We are also working with communities to help address their concerns. For example, AHS entered into a pilot project with the MD of Willow Creek after their community raised concerns about the availability of ambulances to respond to calls, and agreed to temporarily allow the MD to transport patients in critical or life-threatening condition in the event they could be transported quicker than waiting for an ambulance… Since May 2014… the MD transported one patient that met the criteria.”
After the MD had raised concerns about ambulance availability many, many times, with no result. And AFTER they had purchased their own “medical response units” out of frustration, and lack of action from AHS. They were no longer willing to accept an emergency response from Vulcan, or Okotoks, or where ever the “nearest ambulance” could be found. This was a display of true leadership and concern for the people that reside in the MD. Action instead of more words, studies, pilot projects, etc., etc.
If you are transported in one of these units in less than “critical or life-threatening condition,” then this statistical data doesn’t count. If you are only in excruciating pain, or only badly beat up, then you are expected to wait for that elusive ambulance to transport you to the hospital. One can go to the MD of Willow Creek website to see the actual statistics that are public information.
“EMS leaders are talking with communities to find additional ways to improve patient care.”
AHS EMS talked and talked with the MD of Willow Creek, until the MD took their own action.
AHS has heard from the Mayors and Reeves, AAMD&C, AUMA, various MDs, time and time again. Ambulance coverage and response capability is on every agenda year after year.
AHS has heard an escalating chorus from paramedics and EMTs advocating for patient care for five years now.
How about we quit talking and start doing?
Further to the three-part series done by Global News:
Mr. Sandbeck states that, in his opinion, “It was not necessary for the MD of Willow Creek to purchase and man their own Medical Response Units,” and that “Albertans are not at risk.”
- Let’s just take a look. I don’t know what happened yesterday, as I took Sunday off from all this. But on this past Friday evening, Nanton ambulance was on an emergency call, while Claresholm, High River and Okotoks were all doing inter facility transfers. How about Saturday. Yesterday, around noon, there was not a single ambulance available for emergencies between Lethbridge and Calgary. This is not all that uncommon of an occurrence. Frequently there is only one, two or three ambulances available to cover this part of the province. It is the same throughout Alberta. Tell me again that Willow Creek spent money needlessly, and that Albertans are not at risk. This is the drum I have been beating for five years now.
The Health Minister says that, “a better system for patient transfers may be necessary.” – MAY be necessary?? Do you think?
“AHS will begin to connect with front line workers …” – Begin to connect. What a novel idea. Timely.
Also stated, “We have a borderless system, and Albertans can be pleased to know that when they need an ambulance in an emergency, the closest ambulance will respond.”
And that is as it should be. Bravo! But … excuse me … um … where exactly IS that closest ambulance? Where is it responding from?
So who is snowing who here? AHS likes to declare;
“We are all one!”
Not so. If we were all one, why is it that when there is only one ambulance available between Calgary and Lethbridge, that one of the seven idle Inter Facility Transfer units parked at the Rocky View Hospital won’t/can’t come down to Black Diamond to do the transfer that just took our last truck out of service? Why is it that the rural ambulances are frequently flexed in to cover and do calls in the city, but it is rare indeed that a city unit is flexed out to the rural areas. We are all one!
“Everything we do, we do in the best interest of the patient.”
Is tasking most, and sometimes ALL, of our rural ambulances with patient transfers in the best interest of the patient? Perhaps the transferred patient, but certainly not the waiting emergency patient!
“We send the right unit/level of care, to the right patient, at the right time.”
If that was the case, I wouldn’t have been flogging this issue all this time. There is nothing in this for me, other than frustration and expense.
I am doing this as a patient advocate. I, and many others, have worked long and hard to build an exceptional ambulance service in this province over the years. I will not sit idly by and watch it be undone by “managers” that don’t seem to have the passion for patient care, nor the vision to move it to where it needs to be.
While there have been some real positive results from the move to a provincial service, the emergency response coverage is not one of them.
This is not hard to fix. There are so many things that could, and should, be done today to improve ambulance coverage. Most don’t cost anything, and some would even save money.
Will a LEADER with vision and a passion for EMS, a strong work ethic, and a desire to effect positive and needed change, please stand up?
Make good, or make way, but don’t make excuses.
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