EMS union says UCP’s ambulance unveil is not news

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on July 9, 2021.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

The head of the Alberta paramedics union says this week’s announcement in Medicine Hat that ambulances can now deliver non-emergency patients to certain other facilities, not emergency rooms, is just window dressing.

Mike Parker, head of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, says its already happening and won’t help overburdened paramedics.

“The minister is selling transporting patients to sites other than hospitals as a new thing, it isn’t – it’s been happening for more than a decade,” said Parker in a release, adding there’s no indication of how wait times at ERs will be affected.

“If the idea is to actually ease the burden on EMS crews in major cities, the approach is all wrong. We need more crews and have needed them for a long time.”

On Tuesday, Health Minister Tyler Shandro and officials from Covenant Health announced that transporting palliative care and other patients directly to hospices and other clinics would ease stress on patients and free up EMS resources by avoiding wait times before transfer.

Ten mostly rural and small urban facilities, including St. Joseph’s in Medicine Hat, will be designated as drop-off locations this year in what was described as an expansion of a current but limited practice.

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