County of Minburn Council to Address Emergency Medical Services Concerns with Health Minister

County of Minburn Council to Address Emergency Medical Services Concerns with Health Minister

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

Mounting concerns over emergency medical services has prompted the County of Minburn to voice their concerns directly to Alberta’s Health Minister.

County of Minburn Chief Administrative Officer Brent Williams said they are writing a letter to Health Minister Jason Copping regarding the availability of ambulances and the timeliness of response.

AHS Ambulance Station in Vegreville.

(Town of Vegreville/Submitted Photo)

Williams said the larger issue driving those things are hospital transfers, and they want to know what the government’s plan is to address that, and what shortterm and long-term solutions will be put in place to deal with the ongoing situation.

While health care is a complex issue, Williams said council sees its role as one of advocacy for residents who live within their borders.

Health services can be limited or sparse in rural communities. Williams said needs are increasing and capacity is not there.

He also pointed out that if physicians don’t have access to equipment they can’t diagnose or test patients who then have to be transferred to other hospitals. For example, Williams said local residents who require a CT scan have to travel to Camrose in order to have one.

On Jan. 17 members of council were given an overview of EMS resources that are currently available in Vegreville.

Tony Pasich, Associate Executive Directive of EMS Operations in AHS Central Zone, made an online presentation to council which included statistics. Pasich said there is one basic life support ambulance available seven days a week, one advanced life support ambulance available seven days a week, and one basic life support ambulance peak unit that is available Monday through Friday.

Support systems that are available include: St. Joseph’s General Hospital, Medical First Response, Air Ambulance Response, (STARS) and 12 registered Automated External Defibrillators, (AED) in Vegreville.

Between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2021 there were a total of 1,983 responses by EMS. Of those, 1,203 were in Vegreville, 176 were in Camrose, 133 responses in Edmonton, 76 responses in Mundare and 63 responses in Minburn County.

In regards to response times, the median response time was 10 minutes in half of all events, and longer than 10 minutes in the other half of all events. Of all the calls, 90 percent were responded to within 15 minutes. The other 10 percent took longer than 15 minutes.

Increased call volume, prolonged hospital waits, and hours of work were identified as challenges EMS is facing currently. Pasich said AHS is reviewing a number of mitigation strategies to address these challenges.

On Jan. 24 Health Minister Jason Copping announced the government would be launching a provincial emergency medical services advisory committee to provide immediate and long-term recommendations that will inform a new provincial EMS service plan. Meanwhile, Alberta Health Services (AHS) is immediately rolling out a 10-point plan to quickly add capacity to EMS.

“Alberta’s government has been supportive of EMS throughout the pandemic. As we approach the peak of Omicron cases, we know the EMS system is seeing significant strain, which impacts service. We recognize this is a challenge and are taking immediate steps to improve emergency care access while we explore longer-term solutions,” stated Copping.