The number of patient transfers Canmore’s ambulances were involved in was up 38 per cent in 2010 compared to the year before.
While EMS totals have increased by approximately 10 per cent, Fire Chief Todd Sikorsky said transfers by ambulances between hospitals saw a considerable jump last year, which was the first full year of Alberta Health Services (AHS) taking over dispatch of the service.
“It is definitely a greater margin than we were expecting,” Sikorsky said. “It does strain our system.”
AHS took over funding and governance of EMS services throughout the province in April 2009.
The municipality still runs the service, which is contracted out to the province, and it remains integrated with the fire department – a topic of debate for council.
In 2008, there were 320 transfers, in 2009 there were 362 and in 2010 a total of 500.
With the changeover to AHS, said Sikorsky, the service became a regional one and both on-duty and on-call ambulances have seen more use.
Before the change, it was the Town’s policy not to dispatch both crews outside the community.
But, during 2010, both ambulances were outside of Canmore’s town limits at the same time for just over 155 hours.
“We are seeing increased use regionally versus locally,” Sikorsky said. “We did not track that statistic before because we were in control and we did not allow both ambulances out of town unless it was a life-threatening situation.”
The use of the on-call ambulance crew, which is the backup for the on-duty, has also seen increased use under the new contract.
In 2008, on-call was used four times for transfers, in 2009 there were 13 transfers and in 2010 it was called out 24 times.
AHS pays a monthly contract amount to the Town of Canmore to provide emergency services.
Sikorsky said the cost of running the service has surpassed the contract amount for 2009.
As a result, the Town has requested an increase in the amount it is compensated.
Sikorsky said he could not disclose the amount being requested as it is under negotiation, but added the 2010 calendar year for the service is also showing a negative variance.
If both ambulances are busy on calls, the first response is by an assistant chief in a vehicle with advanced life support.
Medical first response rates have also been going up under the new contract, and it is a service Canmore does not get paid for – something Mayor Ron Casey has noted at council.
“That is a level of service council needs to discuss when we have a formal plan come forward,” Casey said earlier this year.
Council is currently awaiting a strategic business plan for the fire department as a stand alone service, without EMS being integrated.
It had also voted to give notice to AHS it would no longer provide the service as of this April, however, the contract was extended into 2012 at the request of the province.
Casey pointed out that Airdrie has taken the step of no longer offering medical assistance by its fire department.
In 2008, medical assist first response calls numbered just four, but in 2009 they were up to 35 and in 2010, 58 calls.
The increased call volume for EMS services as part of the integrated fire service has been noticed, said Sikorsky.
“We have noticed more crew utilization since entering into the AHS contract in a regional response,” he said. “The biggest thing is we are an integrated service and the more we are used on the medical side, the less available (crew) are for fire response, which then increases our response time by having to use paid on-call firefighters.”
