Work to improve the ambulance situation in Alberta is ongoing.
Over the last several months, there has been a considerable increase in the number of times resources are pulled out of Strathcona County and into different jurisdictions. While the need for EMS services has been growing over the last several years, the spike happened after the COVID-19 pandemic occurred.
This has created a huge strain on paramedics who often find themselves working with few breaks and in unfamiliar territory.
"This puts stresses on our workers and also in our community," said mayor Rod Frank.
As Strathcona County is a contractor to Alberta Health Services (AHS), there is limited action the county or the department can do to fix this issue.
In response, the province launched an emergency medical services advisory committee in January. Their goal is to provide immediate and long-term recommendations to form a new provincial EMS plan by looking at hiring more paramedics, initiating an 'hours of work' project to ease staff fatigue, finding other ways to handle non-emergency or low priority calls and more.
Since the committee was launched, progress has been made on handling some of these issues.
"The government has ordered Alberta Health Services to renegotiate contracts with municipalities," said Frank.
Their hope is this will allow municipalities to be more versatile in their responses.