City may seek reimbursement from province on fire aid

By COLLIN GALLANT on June 15, 2023.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Medicine Hat may ask the province to begin compensating it and other cities that dispatch fire crews to provide medical first response service.

Council’s public services committee endorsed a plan Monday to second a motion to the Alberta Municipalities lobby group asking for talks on cost recovery, though administrators admit actual expenses are hard to determine.

The motion, proposed by Grande Prairie, asks the province compensate municipalities for costs when local “firefighters respond to emergencies due to the absence or delay of provincial paramedics in their service area.”

Medicine Hat city council will determine if it will second the motion that will be addressed at the Alberta Municipalities’ next conference.

Documents note “provincial funding for this important service would provide support for the City of Medicine Hat to remain part of the program.”

For years municipalities have lobbied for improved ambulance response times from Alberta Health Services, and last year the Rural Municipalities association requested consideration for its mostly-volunteer fire department’s medical-first activities.

A 2022 report to AHS on improving ambulance response times recommended exploring partnerships under a financial funding model.

In 2004, the province took over local ambulance service across Alberta, but some municipalities, such as Lethbridge, still operate ambulance service in agreement with the province.

In Medicine Hat, city firefighters began responding to high-priority medical emergencies and providing initial medical care at calls, such as motor vehicle collisions, about six years ago.

That is done under an operating agreement, but that does not include financial compensation.

Public services managing director Brian Stauth, a former fire chief, told committee it is difficult to determine specific costs of medical response in the local operating budget, but there are costs, such as naloxone kits to administer in the case of drug overdoses. AHS does replenish some supplies free of charge.

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