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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.