Strathcona County Emergency Services is optimistic to see more work being put into helping EMS in Alberta.
For the last several months, the province has been working with municipalities to improve the strain on EMS due to an increased need for service. An emergency medical services advisory committee was even formed in January to help find solutions to these issues.
"It's a very complex issue and only with all parties working together can we help to make the improvements that are required," said Strathcona County fire chief Jeff Hutton.
The provincial government also recently announced they would increase EMS funding by $64-million, or 12.2 per cent, in Budget 2022 in response to the higher demand and stress on staff.
- $28-million to add more ground ambulances and crews as well as sustainable funding for helicopter air ambulance
- $22-million to increase capacity, extend ground ambulance contracts and support integrated operations centres and inter-facility transports projects
- $14-million for the “hours of work” initiative, to address crew fatigue
Edmonton and Calgary will both receive five 24/7 ambulances in each of the next two fiscal years – a total of 20.
"If there are not enough ambulances in the system, overall, the natural draw is for ambulances to be pulled towards where the greatest population is. So if Alberta Health Services invests resources in the Edmonton area, that should allow our ambulances to spend more time in Strathcona County," Hutton added. "Although we're part of a regional system, we still want to ensure that that our residents' emergency medical needs are met in a timely basis."
According to the province, since early February, Strathcona County and eight other communities have seen a drop in ambulances being called to neighbouring urban centres.