HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2011-08-10, Page 22 Lakeshore Advance • Wednesday, August 10, 2011
New Rapid Response vehicles on the road
County Emergency Medical Services
have added four Rapid Response Units,
while removing two of the ambulances
that were destined for replacement in
2011.
No new money is available from the
province or county for additional ambu-
lances to meet this new standard, there-
fore dollars had to be found from within
the existing budget. A new fully staffed
ambulance would cost $12-1,4 million
and so another option was needed to be
presented to council. This new option
would be to spend $250,000 to $300,010
for four trucks and re -assign the existing
staff to these units, one per truck.
Because Ilunrn County EMS' practice is
to refurbish one truck as well as buy one
new each year- their budget allowed for
this cost neutral expenditure.
I.ew says the new vehicles will he
focused in those areas within the
County of Huron with the least amount
of coverage such as the
southwest corner, especially during the
high tourist season. This will help get
their response times down by having
quicker access to these areas within the
county.
When an emergent call is dispatched
a Rapid Response Unit is assigned in
addition to an ambulance. The Rapid
Response Unit has all the same equip-
ment as an ambulance but does not
have a stretcher, as they cannot trans-
port. The crew has the same training as
all of the Primary Care Paramedics
within the County of Huron. 'Ibis vehi-
cle response is meant to stop the clock,
get medical attention to the patient
quickly and if transport is required the
ambulance is already enroute to trans-
port the patient. Lew feels there is no
redundancy here as the mandate of get-
ting medical response in eight minutes
or less is being addressed as per their
agreement with the Province of Ontario.
In some cases the patient may not need
or want to be transported, so the ambu-
lance can he cancelled while enroute
HICNN'AY 21 CORRIDOR SANITARY SEWAGE COLLECTION SYSTEM
CLASS EN\'IRONMFNTA1, ASSESSMENT (EA) & PRELIMINARY DESIGN
Public Information (entre 2 Notice
On behalf of the Municipality of Hluewater, Dillon Consulting Limited is currently
completing a Class EA and Preliminary Design of a proposed ~unitary sewage collection
system to serve the Hluewatcr Iakeshore from Huron Road 83 to St. Joseph. Dillon's
recommendations regarding the proposed system will be presented at Public Information
Centre 2 on:
Saturday. August 20, 2011. 10:00 a,m.
Rluewater Community Centre
IS East Street, Zurich, Ontario
The Public Information ('entre will consist of a formal presentation at 10:00 a.m.
tbllowrd by a question and answer period. It' you require further Information, please
contact:
Brent Kinner
Utilities Superintendent
Municipality of Hluewatcr
14 Mill Avenue, P.O. Box 250
Zurich, Ont. NOM 2T0
Tel: 519-236-4351, Ext. 221
Fax: 519-216-4129
b, kattmertttdown.bluclt atct,Qn,tit
Janet Smolders, MCIP
Project Manager
Dillon Consulting Limited
Box 426 London, Ont. N6A 4W7
Tel: 519-438-6192, I:xt. 1268
Fax: 519-672-8209
111.11di trig ial.Q.USIA
01t.►L)N
I,l.�
the timamt 11 Illoto,e,,suwr andPrt>ht'tion U/ I'rfn,h'YAct appticx to Information gathered for this project.
With the exception of personal inftrmauon, all comments will become part of the public word.
HASKETT
1 1'1; •\I 11(1.\11 \ I I I)
www.haskettfh.com
Serraw f aNiNa since 1882
The new Rapid Response units
and re-routed to another emer-
gency call as needed.
With the new operation, I.ew
says nothing changes as far as
the patient is concerned. In this
area, while Grand Cove and Oak-
wood Park are both in Huron
County- the I,ambton ambu-
lance bay in (;rand Bend is closer
than the I luron trucks that may
be In Exeter or St. Joseph. As has
always been, if a code 4 is called -
that being emergency lights and
sirens, (grand Bend is the closest.
'they will respond and there may
not be a Rapid Response Unit
needed, It' it is a Code 3, emer-
gent- the closest vehicle will
respond and if that is (;rand
Bend- they will respond. In 2010
the call volume for Ilium) County
Code 3 calls were - 1765 calls and
Cade 4 calls were - 2167. A code
3 is an emergency but non- life
threatening while a code 4 is an
emergency, (life and limb) such
as cardiac arrest, motor vehicle
with injuries, stroke, etc.
Unknown calls are always
responded to as a Code 4.
Huron County's dispatch is in
London and when the call coshes
in, the dispatcher makes the
decision as to where the closest
ambulance is located. The EMS
supervisors will not question that
decision but can step in if they
feel the call is of a non -emergent
nature.
In I luron County there are 38
Primary Care Paramedics (PCP)
and 14 Advanced Care Paramed-
ics (ACP), Rapid Response Units
vehicles are staffed with PCP
personnel and I.ew says many
Ontario EMS services that have
Rapid Response Units are taking
their ACPs out of these units as
this is not good usage of this
resource, The basic care is suffi-
cient for initial patient contact,
leaving the more Advanced Care
Paramedics available in the com-
munities to provide their skills if
the patient requires thein,
The location of the nearest
Rapid Response Unit is at a post
on the corner of 1 iighway 21 and
84. EMS has rented office space
so staff has a break location. Also
new to Huron County EMS and
the Rapid Response Unit staff is
the high level safety training for
paramedics who may be involved
When a dearth occurs...
No matter the time, notify us.
Even if someone else plans to call,
contact us as soon as possible,
223 Main Street, Lucan 519-227-421,
Rio photos
in a dangerous confrontation on
a call. Eventually all paramedics
in Huron County will receive this
additional training.
in 2006 EMS advised their hos-
pitals they were reducing non •
emergency transfers. Some hos-
pitals then upgraded their
transfers so they were assured an
ambulance. Because of this EMS
were losing 3-4 cars at a time to
larger centres such as London,
Toronto, Kitchener, etc. - leaving
reduced ambulance coverage in
some Huron County communi-
ties. At this same time private
companies began to spring up -
giving patients an option to book
their own transfer, The issue here
is that there are no legislated
standards for the private transfer
companies. 'Ihe province allows
charges of $45 for your transport
by ambulance to a hospital ($15
goes to province and $30 to
receiving hospital) - the private
industry can charge whatever the
market can support. This issue
continues to cause concern and
the province is currently in the
process of developing legislatll
to address this concern.