Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2013-11-27, Page 1212 News Record • Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Consultant recommends sweeping changes to county EMS Establishment of bases in Seaforth, Clinton Paul Cluff QM! Agency Sweeping changes have been pro- posed to Huron County's EMS includ- ing establishing bases in Clinton and Seaforth and removing two of the county's fleet of rapid response vehicles. Consultant Daryl Cully's recommen- dations, reviewed at the Wed. Nov 20 county council meeting, come after months of consultations with stake- holders, including one -on -on meet- ings with councillors. The review was recommended by BLACK FRIDAY cAVINO' 3 DAYS ONLY! THURS. NOV. 28, FRI. NOV. 29, SAT. NOV. 30 LOWEST PRICE OF THE YEAR ON ALL SEALY MATTRESSES! NO TAX/NOTAX/NOTAX/NOTAX SEALY BRAND FIRM EUROPILLOW TOP MIX N MATCH $789." $889." WINDFLOWER POSTUREPEDIC ti QUEEN SIZE QUEEN SIZE 2 QUEEN PILLOWS FREE WITH ANY PURCHASE 2 FREE QUEEN PILLOWS WITH ANY PURCHASE. BELLA VISTA POSTUREPEDIC PROBACK 4U7GUFY ir„po4PILLGWTC 51099.E QUEEN SIZE 2 FREE QUEEN PILLOWS WITH ANY PURCHASE. LaratiO �� LIrIIL"i. i,II VI 'I91 FINE FURNITURE & FLOOR COVERINGS 71 Albert St. Downtown Clinton 482 - 9505 George Cuff - a consultant hired to examine overall county oper- ations and ways to improve them. Huron EMS operates within or close to budget and response times are good for the most part, said Cully, who reviewed statistics, budgets and staff workloads for his report. Huron EMS was rated above average in its last review by the Ministry of Health, which sets standards for upper tier municipalities. Cully's report touched on everything from operational issues to staff morale to what the county council focus should be when it comes to EMS. Cully recommended base changes: establishing locations in Seaforth and Clinton, con- verting Tuckersmith to an administration base and mov- ing the St. Joseph post to Zurich. "Vehicles should be where the calls are occurring;" he said, referring to his data. Cully said Huron EMS have the lowest response goal/tar- gets in southwestern and east- ern Ontario. According to data, for the most critical calls, Huron EMS responds within eight minutes 51 per cent of the time. Eight minutes is the provin- cial response time standard - the time the paramedic crew is notified until they arrive on scene. The base set-up recom- mended by Cully would ensure critical calls are reached in the quickest time, he said. The alignment is an end - around from a previous con- sultant's findings, though requirements have changed over the years, including response time targets. Cully suggested eliminating a policy of refurbishing vehicles in favour of buying new. Refur- bishing hasn't proven to save money long-term, he said. He also suggested buying SUVs and phasing out the use of pick-up trucks and equipping EMS vehi- cles with snow tires by year's end. There is no data to suggest usage of rapid response vehi- cles has helped with response times and suggested removing two from the fleet and staffing an additional ambulance over a 12 -hour period. In a list of overall recommen- dations, Cully said EMS man- agement should be more inclu- sive of paramedics in overall decision-making. Action should be taken on minor decisions and not left for council to decide when already approved by budget, he added. Cully found a disconnect between county council, EMS management and paramedics. He suggested the chief and dep- uty chief dedicate more time to station visits for meetings with paramedics, so concerns don't fester. Paramedics have expressed concern with the loss of the 24-hour shift, and single staff- ing of rapid response vehicles. He also noted a staff concern about frequent movement from location to location in the county, essentially to have EMS on the ready. It leads to staff sit- ting for extended periods, away from bases, to cover off the county. More than two-thirds of call volume is vehicle movements, Cully said. "One of the reasons we are here is staff morale He suggested county council focus on strategic levels and not operational issues or paramedic operational concerns, though he noted that EMS shortages should be reported on a monthly basis to the CAO. Cully said it is important to let the community know what is going well with its EMS, sug- gesting there is a lot of misin- formation in the community that could be clarified by an annual report. The consultant's EMS review contract with the county, approved in June, was for $35,980. Council went into closed ses- sion after Cully's presentation. Afterwards, they agreed to receive the information as presented. "I think the general feeling is there needs to be some improvement, but we have been exceeding some standards across the province," said Coun. Deb Shewfelt, the Mayor of Goderich. Shewfelt hesitated to say when and if changes could be made, but he hopes they would come at budget time and after long conversations. "We started to make changes and I think sometimes changes result in other changes. We needed a total review of how we are oper- ating. It's a moving target, a growing target. We need to take (EMS services) to the next level." OFFICE HOURS The Office Hours for The Clinton News Record is as follows Mondays - 9am - 5pm Tuesdays - CLOSED Wednesdays - 9am - 5pm Thursdays - 9am - 5pm Fridays - 9am - 5pm Clinton News Record 53 Albert St., Clinton, ON PH: 519-482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com