Associated Ambulance removes lifesaving piece of equipment

The Barrhead Fire Department (BFD) is hoping Associated Ambulance, the company contracted by Alberta Health Services (AHS) to provide EMS service to the region, will reverse its decision to remove a piece of life-saving equipment from one of its Barrhead ambulances.

Grizzly Trail Fire Rescue Association purchased the Lucas CPR, a chest compression machine, five years ago through its fundraising efforts, in a push to improve the survival rates of patients being transported to the hospital who are in need of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Paul Kennedy, Associated Ambulance executive director of operations, told the Barrhead Leader that the company had no choice but to pull the machine off the unit, at least temporarily, until the company has a chance to do its due diligence. “I can’t put a piece of equipment on an ambulance under Alberta Health Services rules without some quality control over it,” he said, adding the company has no documentation on the unit, nor are any of its crews trained in its operation. However, that doesn’t mean the Lucas chest compression machine will be off of the ambulance unit permanently.

“This only happened a week ago and we are currently still looking into ways we can make this work and have it put back as a regular piece of our ambulance’s equipment,” Kennedy said. “There is a lot of stuff we need to ensure that we do right, because from a business prospective, as well as the practitioners themselves, there are liability issues. We need to insure we are properly trained on it and the equipment is certified to be used.”

Kennedy added that he has asked for the documents, saying that they have yet to arrive, but he expects them to arrive soon. In the meanwhile, until the outstanding issues are solved and if trained BFD members would like to accompany Associated Ambulance crews on calls, to use the machine, they would be welcomed, Kennedy said. BFD fire chief John Whittaker said he was surprised and disappointed when he was first told that the company had removed the machine from active service.

“I actually heard about it from the local shift supervisor, who was told through their head office, to get the piece of equipment off and give it back to the fire department,” he said.

Originally the chest compression machine was purchased for a cost of $12,500 and if it were bought today it would cost about $16,000.

“It is really unfortunate. The Alberta University Hospital’s emergency department has seen it and has said it is a great tool and so has STARS Ambulance,” Whittaker said, adding about a year-and-a-half ago the Fort Assiniboine Fire Department purchased a Lucas unit.

With the simple touch of a button, a suction cup and pressure pad are activated to provide steady compressions. Every 30 seconds the device pauses for two seconds, before pushing on the chest again and restoring oxygen to the brain. When the association gave the unit to the ambulance service, Trevor Trefanenko, Barrhead’s director of ambulance services, thanked the association, stating its biggest advantage was that it freed up attendants to do other lifesaving work such as controlling airways, delivering medication and preparing the patient for ambulance transport.

When Whittaker asked why Associated Ambulance decided they no longer wanted the piece of equipment he said he was given a number of reasons, foremost being that they cannot provide proper training.

“Which is frustrating because the training can be found online and it takes about four or five minutes,” he said.

Among the other reasons Whittaker said he was given were maintenance costs and the fact Associated Ambulance wants to keep all of its units as uniform as possible. Both of which, Whittaker believes to be non-starters.

He said the Grizzly Trail Fire Rescue Association has meticulous records showing that the unit’s maintenance was up-to-date and was being serviced, on the association’s dime, as per the manufacturer’s recommendation.

“We also find it frustrating to be now told that it wants all of its equipment across all of our ambulances standardized because as emergency services, not all our responses are standardized,” Whittaker said. “Some of the calls you are going to have to go to in Edmonton you are never going to find in Barrhead and vice-versa. When there are differences in demographics and types of calls, you should have different equipment, especially when it is being provided at a zero cost to them.”

However, Whittaker said the good news is no matter what decision Associated Ambulance makes, the Lucas unit will not leave the area, adding as it will be added to Command 1’s list of standard equipment.

“We are often called out to the same scenes and I can apply the unit and all our firefighters are being trained on its operation, so we as a department are trying to make sure that the Barrhead community is still receiving this type of care, from a unit that I believe is an extremely important piece of life saving equipment,” he said.

Whittaker also noted that the BFD continues to have a strong working relationship with Associated Ambulance and its crews, but feels its administration made the wrong decision. The Grizzly Trail Fire Rescue Association is a non-profit organization whose mandate is to support the BFD and other emergency services by buying equipment and subsidizing training courses that various levels of government could not normally afford.