Ambulances have been a hot topic in Alberta, and a man advocating for change has been organizing town halls in rural Alberta to explain why the current ambulance system could cost them their lives.  

Back in August, Don Sharpe who has over 40 years of experience in the field as a paramedic, visited the Strathmore Legion to educate and listen to stories from residents about their experience with ambulance wait times.  

Since then, Citizen Action Groups have been formed to raise awareness, and capture the attention of Alberta Health Services.  

“Well, it's been kind of exciting. We knew this was going to be a big job when we took it on. We're trying to get groups of local people in rural communities to band together and protect their paramedics and protect their ambulance service from not being there. Many of these Community Action groups to work together to be heard because right now (Alberta Health Service) AHS isn't listening.” 

These action groups have sprung into action and have been capturing people’s attention on social media. Many are shocked to find how often their communities are left without ambulance coverage.  

“There's an all-encompassing Rural Citizen Action Group Facebook page and people are coming on there and telling stories and saying they have had to wait hours for an ambulance. Those are the people we want to hear from,” Sharpe continued.  

“As more and more people find out what's going on, people are going from shock to anger. And they're saying, wait a minute, how come I'm reading every week that our ambulance is shut down and not available. How come I'm reading every week that our ambulance has been moved to another town and then had to respond to my community. They ask, how has this been so mismanaged first, and then they want to know why?” 

“It's almost like those stages of grief. They're shocked and they're angry."

Sharpe explained that right now in the current system if paramedics were to get a call about a patient that needed to go to South Health Campus in Calgary for an MRI from High River, the paramedics would get directed to use the local emergency ambulance to transport the patient who is stable. This would take the local emergency away from its area.  

“They should be using a private ambulance service for that type of scenario. Then the local emergency ambulance would be able to stay in town and help people who actually have an emergency.”  

He continued to say that the current way of dispatch is trickling down and affecting rural communities. “Most rural communities would not get their ambulances back until shift change.”  

After visiting 10 rural communities in Alberta, Sharpe said that he has still not had any provincial leaders take his calls or reach out to him.  

“Again, I've tried to remain hopeful because I'm an optimistic guy and I've fought this fight now for a dozen years. Initially, I thought that if I just presented AHS with the facts and showed them a better way to do business, they might consider it. They didn't listen and that kind of surprised me.” 

Sharpe says he is trying his best to bring awareness to this situation, but people’s lives are at stake, and he has seen people pay with their lives before. 

“I'm pretty angry because at these town hall meetings, I stand up at 7:30 pm and I’m talking with community members about a problem when the people who are getting paid to fix this problem are at home eating a steak and drinking a glass of wine at the same time.” 

One thing that raises his spirits on the situation is the passion of the communities he visits. He explained that he has met many hard-working people who just want access to the ambulance they pay for.  

“I don't think I could get this kind of response anywhere in the city of Calgary or any urban environment, but rural communities seem to really care about each other, and it's gratifying to see that that spirit is still there.” 

To keep up to date on the status of rural ambulances, follow the Rural Citizen Action Group Facebook page.