Okotoks - 'Red alerts' cause for concern for EMS

High call volume and large service area have ambulance services on life support

July 12, 2006 Vol. 31 No. 49

(Copyright Western Wheel Community Newspaper 2006 )

Alberta's booming economy isn't only giving homebuyers heart attacks, it's also putting ambulance services on life support. A recent study conducted by the University of Alberta examined what rural and urban response times were throughout the Calgary Health Region (CHR) and how increasing the number of units might improve those times.

What the study found came as a concern for Foothills Regional Emergency Services (FREMS) director Darren Sandbeck, but also confirmed the suspicions he had already for quite some time. Last Friday morning FREMS went into a red-alert - a warning that no ambulances were available for the next call. So far this year, approximately six red alerts have been issued in both Calgary and the Foothills. Last year, there were approximately eight red alerts issued in the foothills region the entire year.

As the population continues to grow in rapid fashion and stretching services to the limit as a result, Sandbeck foresees more red alerts to come in the near future. "We are all in the same situation. The problem is the whole region is out-stripping capacity," said Sandbeck, who views the situation as 'scary.' "None of this really surprised us. It validated what we initially thought for a long time." To address the potential for more red alerts Sandbeck advised FREMS must look at adding manpower and distribution of assets.

The target time for an urban area is set at 10 minutes and 30 minutes for rural. However, the study showed FREMS was averaging a response time of 15 minutes per call in urban areas and 34 minutes in rural areas 90 per cent of the time. Although the numbers might not seem like a huge deviation, they could mean the difference between life and death. "We are concerned about that and we know it is something we need to address," said Sandbeck. "We want better performances than that."

During 2004 and 2005, FREMS saw a growth of 17 per cent in call volume - a number Sandbeck called significant, but is not as high as Banff, which topped the list at 21.3 per cent. At the moment, FREMS has six stations scattered throughout the region, which covers the MD of Foothills, Okotoks, Turner Valley, Black Diamond, High River, Longview, Nanton, Kananaskis Country and most recently Bragg Creek. It's an area Sandbeck says is equivalent to a small country and often creates a challenge for paramedics to reach their destination in a prompt fashion.

Although distance was one of the reasons blamed for slower response times in the foothills, it wasn?t pinpointed as the main problem. It's because of 'busyness' that about 110 calls in urban areas are late each year and about 50 per cent are late in rural settings. During the next few years, additional stations or units is a must in order for FREMS to continue its quality of service, however, at the moment the organization can only work with the resources it has and is being forced to revisit its deployment model in order to determine how units can be better stationed.

The Black Diamond area was identified as one of the worst areas for response time. That's covers the Eden Valley Reserve, which amounts to about 250 calls or five per cent of the total 4,500 calls FREMS answers each year. The study found by adding units in the highest areas for call volumes, which include Okotoks, High River, Eden Valley, and Black Diamond, approximately 20 to 30 calls would benefit each year.

Although times are tough for ambulance services at the moment, Sandbeck was pleased to report paramedics in the foothills aren't as tied up at hospitals anymore as they used to be - a problem that still persists in Calgary and has become a national complication. "We know it's getting busier. Population growth is a huge factor for us," said Sandbeck. "Our demand is going up and we have to be in a position to be able to meet that demand."