Red Deer’s mayor maintains 911 dispatch changes will hurt response times

Veer said the decision was based on an Ernst and Young report published in February 2020 and developed without engaging the affected municipalities. She added that AHS pushed forward despite a commitment from Health Minister Tyler Shandro to have AHS consult them and examine long-term impacts on response times and patient safety.

“The City of Red Deer strongly believes a consolidation will not result in cost savings for the Provincial Government in the medium to long-term, and worse, will result in negative patient outcomes through slower response times, especially in life and death situations where seconds count. AHS believes by eliminating the integrated dispatch model in Red Deer, Calgary, Lethbridge and Wood Buffalo, they will save $5 million a year,” Veer stated.

“However, if The City of Red Deer were to bill AHS for the times that a fire unit was dispatched for their services, we would have billed AHS $2.15M in 2019. For several years, local fire units have been providing fire medic services to AHS at no cost to them in the interest of ensuring public safety and positive patient outcomes.”

Red Deer’s current model of integrated fire and emergency ambulance service, as the mayor pointed out, is regarded nationally and internationally for its efficiency and patient-first approach.

“All firefighters and paramedics with Red Deer Emergency Services are fire medics; meaning they are dually trained to do both jobs, whereas AHS responders are only trained for ambulance service, she said.”

Veer noted that in 40 per cent of medical calls in Red Deer, the fire vehicle arrives first.

Red Deer’s 911 Emergency Communications Centre dispatches emergency ambulance services 18-21 seconds faster than AHS emergency communications in Edmonton. The centre there averaged a 92 second dispatch time last quarter, despite a standard of 90 seconds.

Red Deer’s average last quarter was 71 seconds.

Current process involves a caller dialing 911, speaking to a municipal 911 centre, and then EMS and fire are dispatched. Under the proposed plan, a caller is greeted by the local 911 centre, then dispatched to an AHS 911 dispatcher, and then EMS can be dispatched. But if fire is needed, EMS would need to contact the AHS call centre again.

To date, the municipalities of Delburne, Eckville, Blackfalds, Lacombe, Lacombe County and Penhold have all submitted letters of support on Red Deer’s behalf.

Veer confirms that AHS is planning to make the switch to a consolidation model by January 4, 2021 with a transition process to take place leading up to the change.

Veer, along with the mayors of Calgary, Lethbridge, and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo will be joined by the fire chiefs of their respective communities in a meeting with Health Minister Tyler Shandro and the Minister of Municipal Affairs on Thursday to voice their opposition to the move.

Red Deerians also opposed to the proposed consolidation, are encouraged to share their stories at www.reddeer.ca/secondscount.

by Sheldon Spackman and Josh Hall

Red Deer’s mayor maintains 911 dispatch changes will hurt response times

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