Top: Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman, Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer. Bottom: Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi. (Lethbridge News Now)

By Sheldon Spackman

"In The Hands Of The People"

Alberta mayors make final plea to save local EMS dispatch in their communities

Jan 11, 2021 | 3:24 PM

The mayors of four Alberta cities including Red Deer are calling on their residents to continue speaking out against changes to EMS dispatch they say will compromise the health and safety of all Albertans.

On Monday, Red Deer mayor Tara Veer was joined virtually by her colleagues in Calgary, Lethbridge, and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in renewing their plea for the province to keep integrated EMS dispatch in place for their respective communities.

Currently, Alberta has seven 911 ambulance dispatch centres, four of which operate from regional hub communities: Red Deer, Lethbridge, Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB), and Calgary.

However, starting Tuesday, Jan. 12, Alberta Health Services (AHS) will begin cutting the total number of provincial dispatch centres from seven to three, located in Calgary, Edmonton, and Peace River.

Veer said the consolidation of ambulance dispatch means three potential emergency response changes for all Albertans:

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• The end of integrated emergency response (a partnership between fire and ambulance that Alberta was once a leader in),
• A degradation of emergency response (dispatch calls will take longer and fire medics will no longer be quickly dispatched to attend emergency scenes when ambulances are unavailable),
• Albertans will be left to wonder what future emergency service changes will be on the heels of the imminent cuts to 911 ambulance dispatch.

“We continue to stand in solidarity with one another against the minister of health’s decision to consolidate ambulance dispatch in our province,” said Veer. “It truly is a matter of life and death for every Albertan and not just for the communities that we represent and stand up for today, but certainly for all 4.4 million of us.”

A report for AHS by Ernst and Young claims that the province could see as much as $6-million in savings through consolidation.

However, Veer noted the issue is not about politics, partisanship, or, as some have speculated, the money.

“It is not even about preserving the status quo, as we are willing to help the Province improve inefficiencies in this critical service,” explained Veer. “In fact, we believe in integrated emergency service so strongly that Lethbridge, Red Deer, and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo are willing to pay from municipal funds to safeguard local integrated emergency dispatch. We made a formal offer to the health minister and the premier, and our letters of offer have yet to be formally responded to.”

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“Let it be known that there are Albertans who are alive today because fire medics responded, because an ambulance was too far away to respond,” added Veer. “In many cases, ambulances are tied up in emergency wait rooms at the hospital, they’re tied up in other communities 15 or 20 minutes away. Our fire medics respond in four to six minutes.”

Veer said it makes no sense for City fire medics to be sitting at the fire station when they could be assisting at an emergency call.

“Losing dispatch means that fire medics will no longer in our communities and regions be immediately dispatched to a critical emergency,” she warned sternly. “This unnecessary emergency health care cut will impact patient care. This is wrong and a waste of local public resources – and it takes our province back 30 years in time in terms of emergency response times and patient care.”

Veer suggested the province is failing to listen to or respond in good faith to the issue.

“They are not putting patients and people first which is why we continue to appeal through the active support of our citizens in this fight for retaining ambulance dispatch locally,” she implored. “This mistake is entirely preventable.”

“There are 39 mayors who have gone on public record indicating that they have realized a degradation of service in their communities, and if this is the final consolidation in the province of Alberta, we have yet to fully realize the intended and unintended consequences of this plan,” continued Veer.

“Other Canadian provinces who have consolidated their dispatch, now have external reports making recommendations to return back to a local, regional model of dispatch because of the consequences that it has had for patient outcomes. Albertans will rue the day that this happened in our province.”