Alberta Provincial EMS (was: EMS Mutual Aid?)

[MrVelvet]

Jay, or anyone else, did Calgary EMS go to mutual aid for PRUs today?

I heard 902 being dispatched and moved to 6 station here in town.

 

[Jay911]

When Calgary EMS gets close to, or into, a "Red Alert" (zero ambulances available for response), they contact their regional partners - Airdrie, Cochrane, and FREMS (Foothills Regional Emergency Medical Services) - to ask for assistance. I, being at home, only heard the Cochrane side of things. Medic 511 came in and assisted from Cochrane. Medic 902 is either Okotoks or High River (I always get them crossed up; the other of the two is 901). Not to be confused with the 90x series units that are part of Calgary EMS, and are booked on when EMS has extra staff. (I haven't been able to convince EMS management that having two sets of 90x units is a bad idea..)

For what it's worth, regarding FREMS, 903 is Black Diamond, 904 is Priddis, 905 is a callsign used if there's an extra truck in any of those regions; 906 is Kananaskis, 910 is Nanton, and it continues. I can't recall the order of the others off the top of my head (Vulcan, Claresholm, Pincher Creek, Fort Macleod, Hillcrest/Coleman, and a few others). 931 and 932 are Canmore. Don't know if Banff got renumbered when they jumped over to FREMS in June.

 

[MrVelvet]

It may have been the additional Calgary EMS units then - as they said they were staging at HQ. There were multiple 90x units that I was hearing however.

Thanks for the FREMS unit # clarification. I listen to them alot at home and can never put 2 and 2 together as to where they are stationed out of. Although Okotoks has 2 permanent PRUs now, so I don't know what callsign the other unit takes.

 

[Jay911]

The units coming out of HQ could have been field trainers or medics kept in HQ on training courses, meetings, etc. Also from time to time a street medic might be being trained to become a superintendent by the working superintendent, so the street medic gets sent out on the street. Also more than one medic unit in the city runs with 3 personnel these days.

 

[fredburgess]

Yes, EMS went to red alert, so units from FREMS and other stations assisted.
Fred Burgess

 

[MrVelvet]

So today sounds like another bad day.

Jay, can you clarify a dispatch for Unit 901 out to Chestermere on A1?

 

[Jay911]

I don't listen to the trunk system when I'm at home as I am now; the system is far too distant for me to reach.

Medic 901 would be a city unit if it's going to Chestermere. Calgary wouldn't send a mutual aid unit out of the city.

 

[robertmac]

Foothills 904 working in South Calgary this AM. Had problems with CAD. Problems with not knowing city when dispatched and maps used different. Did eventually get to call, but took a well. Not emergent call.

 

[Jay911]

Yeah, I saw "FREMS Portable" on the Unitrunker display this morning. If they do have CAD, which I am not sure they do, it wouldn't be compatible with Calgary's system. They do have AVL, I think, but again, it's not linked to PSC.

We do try to give the mutual aid crews some rudimentary directions on how to get to their calls, if they need them. I'm really interested in how things are going to turn out in April when the province supposedly makes the rules. It's anyone's guess how it'll all work. Some think the province might just say "For the first year we're just going to pay for it - you guys keep doing what you're doing". On the other hand, maybe they'll take everything over and run it all. How will they do with that? I'll get back to you on the evening of April 1. Yes, they're going to take over on the morning of April first.

 

[Trexer]

I thought it has been confirmed that for the first 2 years the province will simply be the one writing the cheques versus the city/region/health authority at least for the front line staff. I did hear dispatch centres will be consolidated but that seems to make some sense. I don't see massive changes coming April 1st, it just isn't feasible to flick a switch and for things to suddenly change.

 

[omrail]

i would have to second that. when it comes to Leduc the city and the Fire department still do not know in full to what the change will bring. so the province still is not ready to operate in full. I may be out of date some but I think at least a year before it is run 100% by the province. if ever. with Alberta privatizing every thing I think that the provinces will pay the bills and make the rules but have it all contracted out.

the province has told Leduc that the services we have now will stay the same. how that is i don't know, having two staffed units 24h/7d/week for 20,000 and just in the city limits. then Leduc county only having two staffed units 24h/7d/week for 13.000 and the entire county and the towns in the county. if i was the person running it I would set it up differently

 

[Jay911]

The thing is nobody knows what is going on. I've actually emailed Alberta Health and tried to find some answers, but got no replies so far (admittedly, it's only been 2 days). They were to announce the new dispatch centers as of yesterday, but stated that there was "more to evaluate than (we) expected" and that it would take another week before they could announce the dispatch centers. Quite plainly, I think there's going to be a lot of "more to evaluate than (we) expected" for the whole thing, same as they were in 2005.

As I understand things, specifically about the ambulance service and who will 'own' it, etc. - agencies have two choices for how things will go. One is that the province takes everything and handles it. The other is that the agency becomes a contract agency for the province. Word is, out of all the ambulance services in the Calgary Health Region, only one has chosen to do the contract route. That means that all the other ambulances in the system will become Alberta Health ambulances on the first of April.

I work on April 1st in the dispatch center. I expect that entire week will be a barrel of laughs. In my opinion - and my opinion alone, not (necessarily) that of my employer - I think the entire week is destined for mayhem - if not longer than that.

The Calgary Health Region includes the following cities & towns, according to their website's map. I've listed the towns where there are ambulances currently stationed.

Calgary
Banff
Canmore
Kananaskis
Cochrane
Airdrie
Didsbury
Black Diamond
Priddis
Okotoks
High River
Strathmore
Nanton
Vulcan
Claresholm

All of these ambulance services will be dispatched by one dispatch center come January 1st.

Note, you will not see Nakoda EMS nor Siksika EMS in the list above. The province says ambulance services on native reserves are federal services and don't apply to the provincial system - unless they have mutual aid contracts with non-reserve entities (something seen further north than Calgary).

Anyway, it's going to be an interesting first few months of the year. We'll see.

 

[omrail]

I think there's going to be a lot of "more to evaluate than (we) expected" for the whole thing, same as they were in 2005.

Anyway, it's going to be an interesting first few months of the year. We'll see.

for the frist part i was thinking the samthing that is what you were saying in 05.

it will be interesting.

any one know how BC runs its sevice?

 

[MrVelvet]

All of these ambulance services will be dispatched by one dispatch center come January 1st.

I guess that mean the FREMS dispatch centre is either going to become extremely quiet only dispatching Fire, become the lone contract region in the Province or shut their doors completely and farm their FD dispatch out to someone else.

 

[Jay911]

The only Calgary-area dispatch center so far that's been ruled out of being a dispatch center for the health region is Wheatland County. They stated in July this past year that they would be discontinuing their dispatch functions come January 1 and would be looking for another agency to handle their fire stations' dispatch.

The others that still have a legitimate chance at being awarded the ambulance dispatch for Calgary are FREMS, Calgary PSC, and STARS. The decision will be announced by the province on December 5 (along with the other eight health regions).

There is an article in the October 29 edition of the Okotoks Western Wheel newspaper that seems to sum up the FREMS officials' feelings about the situation (and who they think will get the contract for the CHR).

And to clarify the topic of 'contract entity' mentioned earlier, it is ambulance services themselves that are able to opt into this situation. Out of the agencies that PSC currently dispatches (not all the agencies in the CHR - my error), only one has chosen to do the contracted service route. They will still be dispatched by the dispatch service that covers the whole of CHR, it's just that the staff and ambulances will be provided by the agency instead of by Alberta Health.

 

[MrVelvet]

The only Calgary-area dispatch center so far that's been ruled out of being a dispatch center for the health region is Wheatland County. They stated in July this past year that they would be discontinuing their dispatch functions come January 1 and would be looking for another agency to handle their fire stations' dispatch.

The others that still have a legitimate chance at being awarded the ambulance dispatch for Calgary are FREMS, Calgary PSC, and STARS. The decision will be announced by the province on December 5 (along with the other eight health regions).

There is an article in the October 29 edition of the Okotoks Western Wheel newspaper that seems to sum up the FREMS officials' feelings about the situation (and who they think will get the contract for the CHR).

And to clarify the topic of 'contract entity' mentioned earlier, it is ambulance services themselves that are able to opt into this situation. Out of the agencies that PSC currently dispatches (not all the agencies in the CHR - my error), only one has chosen to do the contracted service route. They will still be dispatched by the dispatch service that covers the whole of CHR, it's just that the staff and ambulances will be provided by the agency instead of by Alberta Health.

Ok, thanks for the clarification.

Out of the 3 you posted, I would think PSC has a distinct advantage of becoming the central call centre. The level of calls that Calgary produces alone would overwhelm FREMS and STARS. I know STARS takes care of dispatch for rural areas north of Calgary, (Olds, Didsbury etc), but with the level of calls on the rise just for the STARS helicopters and with the new ones on the way - I don't think they have the infrastructure to handle such an increase. I used to volunteer in the Link Centre at STARS and if it is still staffed the way it was 4 years ago, then there are only 2 call taker/dispatchers on at any time.

I would also guess PSC would then need to have 2 standards for call taking in the future. With PSC's vision of having one single call taker responsibility, (Fire, EMS, Police all in one), they'd have to maintain a level of their current system where Police calls would be re-routed.

It'll be an interesting time to say the least.

 

[Trexer]

any one know how BC runs its sevice?

I know BC quite well...

BC is run entirely by one ambulance service, BC Ambulance. BCAS provides all emergency and inter-hospital transfers in the province. Although there has been a move recently to contract out some hospital transfers to private companies. BC became a provincial service in 1974 when a bunch of private/public services were amalgamated and it was done with a change all at once.

Not exactly sure if you are looking for any exact details on BC.
I was told though from BCAS Fleet (Handle the maintenance and acquisition of vehicles) that folks from Alberta were in BC having a look at how they run things. Basically from the BC end this means a standardized service and rate schedule with contracts usually only given out to one garage in each town/city. It was mentioned that if Alberta tries to operate for awhile as a provincial service made up of all sorts of different services, contracts etc that it won't end up working as really that is not a provincial service.

 

[omrail]

Trexer you answer what i was looking for and was thinking. thank you.

 

[Jay911]

Out of the 3 you posted, I would think PSC has a distinct advantage of becoming the central call centre. The level of calls that Calgary produces alone would overwhelm FREMS and STARS.

I tend to agree, but if you read the article I linked, M.D. of Foothills Councillor Terry Waddock (who is also head of the FREMS commission) had this to say about the situation:

If [the provincial dispatch system] were run by Calgary, nothing against Calgary, but they’re not experienced with rural dispatch.

I guess the 14+ rural fire/EMS departments Calgary has been dispatching since June 1996 are imaginary, then.

He goes on to bring proof in the form of "other agencies ... [that] have left Calgary and come to FREMS because they think service is better." This refers to Banff ending their contract with Calgary PSC last June. In my opinion, Banff wanted a number of things that were difficult to provide with the current system, such as, on weekdays between 8am and 8pm, send third car (medic 623) out first, unless it's a call to location xyz, in which case send first car. They also routinely complained about the radio system and the inability to contact Dispatch or get Dispatch to contact them.. which, again in my opinion, is 90% because of the satellite radio that has a 3+ second lag in all comms provided.

Enough ranting. On we go.

I would also guess PSC would then need to have 2 standards for call taking in the future. With PSC's vision of having one single call taker responsibility, (Fire, EMS, Police all in one), they'd have to maintain a level of their current system where Police calls would be re-routed.

Not sure why you think PSC would need this. If PSC gets the contract, they will require more call evaluators and dispatchers than they have now. (They require more call evaluators, regardless, but that's another whole argument.) Right now Calgary PSC's Fire/EMS side has two city EMS dispatchers, and one city Fire dispatcher plus one rural Fire and EMS dispatcher. Along with this are two supervisors - one radio, one phone - plus anywhere from 2 to 12 call evaluators per shift. I would not feel comfortable handling all the agencies listed a few posts above with even one dedicated rural ambulance dispatcher. I would want a minimum of two dedicated rural EMS dispatchers, and split the region in half, with everything north and west of Calgary on one person's plate, and everything south and east on the other's. And if PSC were to take on 9-1-1 call answer and/or Fire dispatching for those areas (presuming that one or more of those dispatch agencies were to fold if/when they lose their ambulance dispatch), I would require at least one dedicated rural Fire dispatcher, if not two.

As for your issue where you think police calls should be rerouted, the only reason I can figure you want this is because you want more EMS call evaluators able to handle ambulance 9-1-1 calls and doing pre-arrival care. I don't disagree that taking on a larger area will demand a larger pool of call evaluators, but I don't see it requiring a split of police and Fire/EMS/9-1-1 call evaluators. It accomplishes nothing to split off the police calls, because then the holdup in getting your call heard is just pushed further back down the chain. Instead of waiting for a 9-1-1 operator because they're all busy taking police calls, now you're waiting for a 9-1-1 operator because they're all busy waiting for the police operators to pick up the calls being transferred to them. The solution is to pack that building full of operators and have them all answering anything that hits their phone. You could have 50, 75, or 100 operators and still occasionally come up against the busy signal or "please stay on the line" message, especially when every person within sight of downtown phones to say the Petro Canada Center is on fire (not noticing it's just a reflection from the torch on the Tower).

As we've all said, it's going to be an exciting spring. I for one hope they don't go off half-assed, and do things properly if they have to do anything at all. Do what's done in BC and take over the service, if you want to take it over. Don't say "we're taking it over" and then just pay for the capital and expenditures. The whole reason they're doing this, remember, is because they feel that deployment could be handled better overall. So let's do it right.

 

[MrVelvet]

Isn't PSC going the route that all call evaluators will be responsible for taking all 3 types of calls as opposed to having to be transferred to a CPS call taker? I agree with this method and agree with your assesment.

I was just commenting on the fact that if they go that way, there will still need to be a Police transfer involved for the out of City Police calls.