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Medical assists tying up services

The number of medical calls the fire department responds to is something that needs to change says Barrhead Fire Services deputy chief Gary Hove.
Barrhead Fire Department deputy chief Gary Hove says he believes the number of ambulance assists the department is dispatched to is high and county council agreed. At its
Barrhead Fire Department deputy chief Gary Hove says he believes the number of ambulance assists the department is dispatched to is high and county council agreed. At its meeting May 16, council instructed county administration to investigate active resolutions affecting local fire departments and Alberta Health.

The number of medical calls the fire department responds to is something that needs to change says Barrhead Fire Services deputy chief Gary Hove.

His comments regarding the 18 ambulance assists made over the last quarter were made during the fire department’s quarterly report at the County of Barrhead council meeting May 16.

Councillors voted unanimously to instruct administration to look into any active resolutions affecting local fire departments and Alberta Health Services [AHS].

“What is happening is that the ambulance service is slowly being used more and more to take people to their medical appointments and we’ve discussed this with the members of Associated Ambulance,” Hove said, adding the medical service is similarly frustrated.

Hove said the procedure is allowed under Alberta Health.

“Unfortunately it takes that unit out of service and because there is then no ambulance in town, should a call come in, it increases our own call frequency,” he said.

Reeve Doug Drozd agreed.

“It is concerning to us and I know John [Whittaker] is working on the problem,” Drozd said, adding he believed the best course of action is sending a resolution to either the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts &Counties or Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.

“Maybe that’s the best option. I know it has been discussed at the committee level but as I understand it, no action has yet been taken,” Drozd said.

Coun. Darrell Troock agreed.

“We’re picking up the cost as taxpayers and I know the committee has discussed this in the past. Sooner or later, someone is going to have to. I think the province needs to look at the ambulance services and understand how much it burdens our local volunteers,” Troock said.

On a question from Coun. Marvin Schatz regarding billing, Troock, a member of the fire committee, said neither Alberta Health Services, nor Associated Ambulance are billed for medical assist calls that the fire department responds to.

“The health minister has said this is part of the service offered as part of a volunteer fire department,” he said.

Hove explained the ministry refers to it as the Medical First Responders Program.

“We don’t typically respond to calls that aren’t deemed life-threatening unless there is no ambulance in town,” Hove said, adding if the chief decides to stand the department down on medical assist calls, there is no obligation for the department to respond.

In addition, Hove said a number of recently dispatched calls have been to pull ambulances out of the mud.

“We’ve made the comments ourselves that this isn’t what we’re for, but whatever. It is what it is. John [Whittaker] is holding AHS accountable for calls that are rated high priority that turn out to be less serious,” he added.

However, Troock said council needed to be careful in how they proceed.

“We aren’t saying we don’t want the service. Some groups don’t want to do [medical assists] at all and I’d hate for us to be in that position. It is a real benefit to our community to have the department qualified to respond to these types of situations and it’s appreciated. We just don’t want our guys to burn out,” Troock said.

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