Lethbridge Fire Station 1. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Province consolidating 911 EMS dispatch services, impacting Lethbridge

Aug 4, 2020 | 10:36 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Alberta Health Services (AHS) hopes to make 911 dispatch services more fiscally efficient while aiming to improve patient care.

READ MORE: Alberta mayors, firefighters speak out against 911 EMS consolidation

Four municipally-run contracted satellite dispatch sites, located in Lethbridge, Calgary, Red Deer, and the Municipality of Wood Buffalo, will be transitioned into one of three existing AHS EMS dispatch centres.

The transition only affects EMS 911 dispatch services. All local municipal fire, police, and medical first response will continue to be dispatched by the local municipalities.

These four sites have been separate from the AHS EMS provincial dispatch system since 2009.

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AHS Chief Paramedic Darren Sandbeck says this change will allow them to send the nearest-available ambulance to a patient, regardless of geographic boundaries.

“You may hear comments in the coming days about this transition increasing response times or increasing the time to arrive at a patient’s side – this is not true. What is important to understand is this consolidation changes nothing with respect to the 911 call workflows that exist today.”

EMS 911 dispatch also has the ability to involve real-time physician consultation on emergency calls.

“The consolidation is the right decision for any Albertan needing emergency medical care,” said AHS President and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu. “This will improve care and ensure we are being fiscally responsible.”

The consolidation is one of the recommendations of last year’s Ernst and Young (EY) AHS review.

“The adoption of this recommendation from the EY AHS Review is a further evolution of Alberta’s promise to put patients first,” says Health Minister Tyler Shandro. “The provincial EMS dispatch system allows for better coordination of all EMS resources, including ground ambulances, and air resources, and reliable response times. EMS dispatch consolidation supports improved health integration and will facilitate broader health reforms.”

In a media release from AHS, they say this was “not primarily a financial decision”, but the consolidation of the four satellite dispatch centres will save over $6-million annually, primarily by eliminating the duplication of services.

The transition will take place over the next six months.

911 EMS calls will be handled out of Calgary, Edmonton, and Peace Rivers.

“Callers to 911 will not notice any change,” states AHS.

An additional 25 Emergency Communications Officers will be hired at these three locations and current dispatch workers will be encouraged to apply.