(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By David Opinko & Josh Hall

FOUR CITIES REMAIN UNITED

Alberta Ombudsman receives complaints about EMS dispatch consolidation from mayors

Oct 14, 2021 | 1:33 PM

Four Alberta cities have appealed to a high-ranking provincial authority over the consolidation of 911 EMS dispatch services.

Last August, AHS announced that the municipally-run contracted satellite dispatch sites in Lethbridge, Calgary, Red Deer, and Wood Buffalo would be transitioned into one of three existing AHS EMS dispatch centres. Consolidation officially took place early this year.

READ MORE: Red Deer to continue fighting for EMS dispatch despite switch taking effect

Now, official complaints have been received by the Alberta Ombudsman from the municipal councils of those four communities.

The rationale from AHS was that this step would save the provincial government upwards of $6 million per year by eliminating inefficiencies.

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The mayors, however, maintain that the costs have merely been downloaded onto them. Councils in Lethbridge, Red Deer and Wood Buffalo even offered to pay $1.2 million each to prevent consolidation from happening.

READ MORE: Council offers to pay for dispatch to avoid consolidation

In a joint media release from the impacted communities, they say consolidation has also resulted in increased risk to patients requiring ambulances as response times have slowed.

“Our communities have tried every avenue to communicate with the Government that this system is flawed and to strongly dispute the effectiveness of it, but our calls for a third party review remain unanswered,” said Mayor Veer, City of Red Deer.

“We will not be giving up the fight for what we know is in the best interest of patient safety. We hope that filing this official complaint with the Alberta Ombudsman reiterates that we will exhaust every avenue possible to revisit the Government’s decision, and ultimately we hope the Ombudsman will review the decision of AHS.

“This is an alarm that our Provincial Government and AHS are still not listening to,” Veer continued. “Our decision to file a complaint with the Alberta Ombudsman is the step I hope will finally amplify our serious concerns and make patient safety a priority for our communities.”

Adds Chris Spearman, Mayor of Lethbridge: “It has been over a year since the decision was made to consolidate ambulance dispatch and myself, along with my fellow Mayors of Red Deer, Calgary and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo are still sounding the alarm.

“This is an alarm that our Provincial Government and AHS are still not listening to. Our decision to file a complaint with the Alberta Ombudsman is the step I hope will finally amplify our serious concerns and make patient safety a priority for our communities.”

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi stated that it is unacceptable to risk people’s lives.

“We’ve seen the data and listened to those on the frontline and we know that this dispatch system cannot meet the needs of patients in our cities,” he said. “We hope that the Alberta Ombudsman will consider the severity of the situation and convince our provincial government to make the right decision.”

“Since the province forced a consolidated dispatch system on our communities, we have witnessed the deterioration of ambulance dispatch,” said Mayor Don Scott, Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

“Our commitment to patient safety, and positive patient outcomes remains top priority. Filing a complaint with the Alberta Ombudsman is an important step in continuing our fight toward reversing this decision.”

The mayors are inviting all Albertans who experienced delays or degradation of service to share their stories with the Government of Alberta and call on Premier Jason Kenney to reverse the decision on consolidation.

(with files from Lethbridge News NOW)