Volunteer firefighters often first on the scene

The Alberta government is introducing a new program to free up ambulances and paramedics to respond to more emergency calls. Instead of using highly trained paramedics for non-medical patient transfers like transporting patients home, AHS will arrange for alternative transportation. Taken on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022 at the University Hospital in Edmonton. Greg Southam-Postmedia

Volunteer firefighters are sometimes the first responders on the scene and find themselves waiting dangerous times for ambulances. These aren’t ideal scenarios since volunteers are in training.

Issues with ambulance response are worsening in rural Alberta. Minutes make the difference between life and death in situations where ambulances are needed.

As part of the Alberta Medical Association’s (AMA) care deficit assessment series, they outline the strain on emergency departments. AMA says over the past two years, EMS services have been pushed to a breaking point.

It’s become very common for ambulances to be on red alert, meaning they can’t go to specific areas due to lack of staff.

Once an ambulance gets to a hospital, EMS staff can’t leave until the patient is transferred over to emergency.

Because emergency rooms are already experiencing severe stresses as part of the healthcare deficit across the province, EMS can expect to wait long periods of time at hospitals, unable to go on other calls.

Mayor of Ponoka Kevin Ferguson wrote a letter to Health Minister Jason Copping on behalf of the Ponoka Volunteer Fire Department. He described dangerous situations involving volunteers.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) says internationally, 8 minutes is a benchmark response time for EMS.

An ambulance was initially dispatched from Bashaw, 30 minutes away from Ponoka. Ten minutes after they were dispatched, they were rerouted to Red Deer. The next ambulance for the Ponoka situation was to come from Leduc, 42 minutes away from Ponoka.

“Rather than continue to wait for an ambulance and lose the patient, our firefighters made the decision to pack him into the box of one of their pickups, and with a police escort got him to our local hospital,” said Ferguson.

“This is a summation of the report I read, and the complete absurdity of this situation I find astounding.”

He writes of another incident this past Sept. where volunteer firefighters were the first on scene for someone who had their ear shot off. The next ambulance available was dispatched from Red Deer, 45 minutes away.

“In the last year our volunteer fire department has been the first to arrive on the scene of a medical event 18 times. They do this for the love of their community, and are not being paid–I represent a rural municipality, and I am telling you what I see is that my friends, neighbours, and fellow citizens are being put at risk on a daily basis because we can’t figure this ambulance thing out.”