CANMORE – The ongoing concerns of municipalities across the province being left without ambulances have led to Canmore council to ask Alberta Health Services representatives to discuss the issue.
The request will allow Town officials and senior leadership in AHS to publicly discuss the distressing situation that is often leaving communities such as Canmore without any ambulance coverage on a nearly daily basis.
“We know there is a concern expressed, not only in our community, but in a number of communities in Alberta around the availability of ambulances in our community when they are needed,” Mayor Sean Krausert said.
“We have a centralized system and while there is some change due to COVID, there is a number of other factors.”
Krausert highlighted how one of the purposes of a municipality, according to the Municipal Government Act, is to have a “safe and viable community.”
However, with Canmore increasingly being left without its ambulances as they’re often being sent to Calgary, it leaves an imbalance in providing safety for residents and visitors.
He said he has had discussions with local and regional paramedics as well as Canmore Fire-Rescue Chief Walter Gahler.
He said the local response has been “a real cry for systemic changes in the Alberta healthcare system.”
Talks were had on Nov. 18 at the Alberta Municipalities annual conference with senior provincial director and chief paramedic Darren Sandbeck, associate executive director for EMS operations in the Calgary Zone Randy Bryksa on strategies being created to help the ambulance situation.
Krausert said they were open to coming and was “positive” they will attend in January.
The report stated the centralization of EMS services by Alberta Health Services (AHS) has seen ambulances that are meant to be in Canmore often called out of town, leading to the community being without ambulance service.
It has led to Canmore Fire-Rescue responding to significantly more medical calls and often arriving on scenes before ambulances.
According to statistics from the past four years, Canmore stationed ambulances have responded to 1,050 calls with 66.8 per cent being in Canmore and the remainder elsewhere during 2018. Since then, it has steadily responded to more calls outside Canmore.
In 2019, local ambulances answered 1,131 calls with 69.1 per cent in Canmore. However, in 2020, of the 1,219 calls in Canmore 59.9 per cent were local. Through Sept. 30 this year, Canmore ambulances have responded to 1,237 calls with only 46 per cent being local.
“It clearly shows there’s an increase in the number of calls that ambulances stationed in Canmore are going to and a lower percentage of them are in Canmore. There are a lower number of calls that are in Canmore with an increasing number being in Calgary and other locations,” Krausert said.
The calls outside of Canmore have led to Canmore Fire-Rescue responding to more medical-based calls, often being the first one to attend a scene.
This past year, Canmore Fire-Rescue was responding first 80 per cent of the time in March with a low of 20 per cent in December 2020.
In 2021, the average time Canmore Fire-Rescue is on the scene before ambulances have been as low as 4:19 and peaked at 12:58.
“We’re trending towards 70 per cent of the time the fire department is getting to calls ahead of EMS. … The overall trend is going up. The amount of time ahead of EMS is increasing,” Krausert warned.
Coun. Tanya Foubert brought up how the situation has been worsening since 2010 when AHS took over ambulance services that led to fire departments responding more frequently to medical calls as ambulances were drawn elsewhere.
“We have the crisis we’re facing with the supply of ambulances and staffing, but that’s the Band-Aid fix. … At no point in the last 11 years has anyone been planning on increased visitation or increased populations,” she said. “We still have the same number of ambulances we had decades ago, but now instead of having them to service our community they’re both gone and being dispatched.”
The report highlighted options being examined are alternative transportation for non-emergency transfers and a pilot system for greater triage at the call reception for prioritizing calls. It was also noted the province has the money to buy more ambulances, but a backlog is on order and ongoing staffing shortages.
The report emphasized the Town is not reimbursed for providing lifesaving service for calls outside of Canmore.
While it would be unlikely the province would pay any fee for Canmore ambulances being used elsewhere, Coun. Tanya Foubert suggested by keeping track would help quantify what it costs local taxpayers to have ambulances be redirected.
Though ambulances leaving the Town for other municipalities is one cost factor, the other aspect is the additional cost for taxpayers when the fire department is forced to respond to medical calls. The wear-and-tear on vehicles and the cost to bring in part-time firefighters for a call could be seen as taxpayers paying twice for one call.
“It’s an issue of concern for our community. It is about the safe and viable function of our community,” Coun. Wade Graham said. “The number of times we’ve been without an ambulance in the Bow Valley, let alone Canmore, is astounding.”
