HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-10-09, Page 26Residents in Brussels should benoticing an ambulance in the villagemore frequently now. With the need to meet the 1996
percentile for response time of 17.22
minutes anywhere in the county, it
was determined there should be in
addition to the bases in Wingham,
Goderich, Exeter and Tuckersmith,
there needed to be outposts as well.
Among them was Brussels.
After an initial plan to put the
paramedics at the firehall didn’t
work out, Huronlea was suggested.
Now the EMS staff have settled into
their own room inside the county
home.
The county’s manager of land
ambulance operations Dave Lew
said a deployment strategy was put
together in co-operation with theLondon communications centre.“This strategy requires that a 12-hour vehicle will be in Brussels andif there is a call in the area it willrespond.”However, Lew said, ensuring that
there are ambulances poised to meet
the percentile at any given time is an
on-going process. Therefore, while
an EMS team may be assigned to
Brussels at the beginning of the 7
a.m. shift, they could be called out
and not come back.
In this case others would be
moved closer to the area. “There’s
always one nearby,” said Lew.
“It’s a big chess game. In 1996
EMS responded to 4,900 calls. That
has almost doubled. We have to
move vehicles around depending on
the volume of calls and where they
come from.”
PAGE 26. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2008.
Huron County is taking over full
operation of 9-1-1.
The emergency medical services
program policies and procedures
were distributed to council for the
May meeting. In August the policies
were forwarded to the following
month for review. David Lew,
manager of land ambulance
operations requested input from the
committee and distributed the
policies to the nine lower tiers as
well.
At the Oct. 1 meeting of county
council the question was raised, as it
was many times that day, about
costs.
Goderich councillor John Grace,
chair of the health, ambulance and
social services committee said there
would be no cost to the lower tiers.
Treasurer David Carey re-iterated
that “should” be the case.
“There’s a dangerous word out
there,” said Huron East councillor
Joe Seili. “Should. I’m sorry I’m a
penny pincher, but we need to start
doing that.”
Councillor Bert Dykstra of Central
Huron said it was his understanding
that there would be no new costs,
while Grace thought that costs might
be even less.
“The impetus for this was that
there were problems with the system
the way it was,” said warden John
Bezaire of Central Huron. “I can’t
say whether it will cost more, but we
were spending money before and it
wasn’t being done properly. This is
more an issue of improving the
process.”
“The process now will be very
consolidated,” added Grace. “That
was the problem before. There were
too many fingers in the pie. I think
that will be the cost saving.”
Paramedics settle in to new ‘digs’ at Huronlea
County’s EMS
takes over 911
WelcomeBrussels residents are probablynoticing an ambulance in town as
Huron’s emergency medical services
staff have settled into their room and a
parking spot at Huronlea. A team of
paramedics gets the assignment to
the Brussels post each day,
depending on availablity and
scheduling. RPN Susan Heffer stops
by to chat with David Bisback, seated,
and Gord Smithers (Bonnie Gropp photo)
By Bonnie GroppThe Citizen
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
WHAT ARE
ASTHMA
TRIGGERS?
Asthma triggers are allergens
and irritants that can create
breathing problems when
people with asthma are
exposed to them. Common
triggers include:
• Pollens including tree
pollen, grass pollen and
ragweed
• Cigarette smoke
• Dust and dust mites
• Pets and other animals
• Food allergies
• Weather and air pollution
• Cold air and high humidity