The UCP claims it is addressing Emergency Medical Services (EMS) pressures with its new Heath Care Action Plan (HCAP) ..On Monday, Minister of Health Jason Copping gave an update to media on the work being done to improve EMS in Alberta following the release of two reports.."I know all EMS workers across the province have been feeling the impact of the significant increase of call volumes which has gone up by as much as 30% over the past year and a half since the summer of 2021," Copping said..The UCP said it is committed to a plan to ensure an ambulance is available to everyone where and when they need it and the HCAP will lead to better EMS response times..The UCP will be accepting all recommendations of both the Alberta Emergency Medical Services Provincial Advisory Committee (AEPAC) report and the independent dispatch review and is working on a plan of action to carry them out..“We are acting on the most urgent issues facing frontline EMS workers in our Health Care Action Plan," Copping said.."Albertans deserve an EMS system that responds quickly to every emergency when and where they need it. We are making needed adjustments in policy to get paramedics out of hospital waiting rooms and back out into their communities so they can get Albertans the help they need sooner when they call 911 for an emergency.”.Actions identified by frontline workers, municipalities and other EMS partners are being put in place, including:.• Adding 20 additional ambulances during peak hours, expected to start rolling out in the spring in Calgary and Edmonton..• Fast-tracking ambulance transfers at emergency departments by moving less urgent patients to hospital waiting areas, based on new provincial guidelines that are now in place..• Freeing up paramedics by contracting appropriately trained resources for non-emergency transfers between facilities in Edmonton and Calgary..• Empowering paramedics to assess a patient’s condition on scene and decide whether they need to be taken to an ER by ambulance.."We're increasing the number of ambulances in our busiest centres, and we're putting a new policy in place to get paramedics out of hospital waiting rooms, so they can respond to other calls," Copping said.."We're also changing the way we handle non-emergency transfers between hospitals and other facilities. This is to make sure more ambulances are available to respond to emergencies.".“This work supports four priority areas that we’ve been focused on at Alberta Health Services (AHS) improving EMS response times; decreasing emergency department wait times; reducing wait times for surgeries; and improving patient flow throughout the healthcare system. We are getting there, and making progress every day," Dr. John Cowell, official administrator of AHS said. .Copping admitted "it's been a very tough winter for EMS."."There's some reason to hope we're past the worst of it," Copping said..The result of the nine month collaboration of recommendations to improve the EMS system which were published Monday to the public..The recommendations tackle areas of performance, accountability and operations.."I'm pleased to release two reports from the advisory committee that I formed last January and from the independent review of EMS dispatch," Copping said..A PricewaterhouseCoopers review concluded that Alberta’s central dispatch model follows worldleading practices and design. The review analyzed significant volumes of data, engaged community and service delivery partners, and conducted pan-Canadian and global jurisdictional scans..According to the report, increased demands on EMS services are the leading driver behind longer wait times, which have at times put pressure on the availability of ambulances..The independent review found the centralized model and the current call-taking process do not affect these wait times. However, in its 45 recommendations, the report outlines many opportunities for improvement..The UCP government has accepted these recommendations and is committed to implementing all recommended improvements while continuing with the central dispatch system and addressing municipalities concerns.."We recognize that there is a shortage of health care professionals. So it's paramedics nurses, doctors," Copping said.."We've increased the number of seats to train paramedics across the province. So were focusing on on recruitment.".Copping said the UCP government is also looking at immigration to be able to support the lack of health care professionals in the province.
