There are a number of new programs that the Calgary Zone EMS are trying, in order to improve efficiencies and reduce call response times.

Town of Strathmore council listened to a report from Calgary Zone EMS Operations at the last town council meeting.

Curtis Swanson, Director, EMS Operations, Calgary Zone explained that they would like to forge a regular relationship with the town to keep town council updated. He spoke of ambulance services and call times and response times, a few of the current challenges they are facing, and strategies they are employing to improve.

They gave a breakdown of call volumes in town from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

From April to June there were 645, July to September 659, October to December 662, and January to March 558 for a total of 2524 calls.

“We have seen globally in EMS a 30 per cent increase in call volumes,” said Swanson.

Strathmore EMS does about 84 per cent of the calls within Strathmore, Calgary EMS performs 11 per cent of the calls in town, Chestermere EMS does 1 per cent and Siksika Nation EMS does about 1 per cent.

Community areas serviced by the Strathmore ambulance are 55 per cent Strathmore, Calgary 25 per cent, Wheatland County 7 per cent, and Siksika 6 per cent.

The top destinations for Strathmore ambulances were, 50 per cent are in Strathmore, about 49 per cent are transported to Calgary, 0.3 per cent Vulcan, and 0.2 per cent Bassano.

In terms of response times, the median response time goal is under 10 minutes.  The report showed that there is a gradual increase for median response times from 2016 to 2021. In 2021, Strathmore EMS was below the average at 7 minutes and 14 seconds.

Speaking about the increase in call volumes over time Swanson said a challenge is transfers and having appropriate transportation.

The Mayor raised the issue of statistics showing about one in 10 calls are above the 15 minute response time. In that case, all of the resources to respond were unavailable, or out in other communities responding to calls.

Randy Bryksa, Associate Executive Director, EMS Operations, Calgary Zone said they are absolutely concerned about that fact and that is why they put in place the soft rollout of keeping ambulances in town.

They are completing triage of lower acuity calls, and there will be changes to the hours of work for local EMS in order to reduce fatigue for staff.

Another challenge Swanson said was the transport of patients into Calgary hospitals and ending up waiting in hospitals. They have worked to raise awareness on the issue.

They have also increased transport to urgent care centres by about 45 per cent since August, “Our staff are burnt out, they are tired,” said Swanson.

They are in the process of hiring staff to deal with fluctuating EMS staffing levels.

In the Calgary zone they have made 35 additional hires, 20 went into suburban rural services like Strathmore.

For suburban rural resources (rural ambulances) coming into the city, the Calgary zone has been reviewing how ambulances are dispatched over the last few weeks.

They are making a priority of keeping some EMS in rural areas. They have just begun on Monday a new process.

The yearly average was 40 times a week that Strathmore ambulances came into Calgary and last week the average was 10 times that Strathmore ambulances went to Calgary.

The presentation revealed that Strathmore has one 24 hour advanced life support ambulance that works 7 days a week. And two Core Flex basic life support ambulances that work seven days a week.

The advanced life support ambulance can deal with advanced assessments advanced airway management and drugs. The basic life support ambulance can deal with basic assessment skills, basic airway management, and limited drugs.

They are assisted by the Strathmore District Health Services, Medical First Response Model - Strathmore Fire, STARS Air Ambulance, and 3 community AEDs.

 

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