File photo of an ambulance in Lethbridge (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Lethbridge Council directs City Manager to investigate EMS dispatch options

Feb 24, 2021 | 8:38 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City of Lethbridge will be looking into more options for EMS dispatch service.

Following a recent decision by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to attempt opting out of centralized EMS dispatch, Lethbridge City Council directed the City Manager to investigate any possible actions for Lethbridge moving forward. The items that will be investigated include:

• The possibility of the City of Lethbridge taking similar action as the RM of Wood Buffalo and opting out of centralized dispatch.
• Determining if it would be advantageous to lend Lethbridge’s support to the RM of Wood Buffalo legal case.
• Monitoring future legal proceedings between Alberta Health Services and the RM of Wood Buffalo.

READ MORE: Spearman responds to Wood Buffalo voting to take back EMS dispatch

READ MORE: Alberta goes to court in fight with municipality over medical emergency dispatch

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READ MORE: Court grants interim injunction to temporarily halt Wood Buffalo EMS dispatch withdrawal

Since last August, the City of Lethbridge has worked alongside the RM of Wood Buffalo, City of Calgary and City of Red Deer in advocating to keep local EMS dispatch services.

Last summer, a decision was made to centralize the service.

READ MORE: Province consolidating 911 EMS dispatch services, impacting Lethbridge

In Lethbridge, that transition took place on January 12 of this year. All calls coming into the city’s 911 Centre that require an ambulance are now transferred to Calgary in order for that ambulance to be sent out.

“Our goal always has been and always will be to provide the highest and most efficient standard of care to those requiring emergency services,” said Lethbridge mayor Chris Spearman.

“For months we had identified the risks associated with this new model and raised those concerns with both AHS and the Government of Alberta. We still have not had meaningful conversations and resolutions to many of those issues. Given the seriousness of this issue, we need to continue to look at all options available in order to protect the safety of our residents and our emergency crews.”

The City of Lethbridge noted that all four communities going through the transition have been impacted. Locally, officials say addresses have been relayed incorrectly to EMS crews, which has caused delays in response times.

More details can be found here.