Clinton News Record, 2016-09-14, Page 22 News Record • Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Central Huron passes motion to ask
county council to reinstate Advanced
Care Paramedics program
Justine Alkema
Clinton News Record
When the gallery is over-
flowing at a municipal meet-
ing, it is a sign that some-
thing of importance is going
to be discussed. The issue of
advanced care paramedics
in Huron County has proved
to be a topic of interest in
Huron County.
At the beginning of July,
Huron County council
moved to eliminate the pro-
gram in a vote of eight to
seven.
For some members of the
public, this decision has not
sat well. There were two
presentations at Central
Huron's meeting on Septem-
ber 6 from individuals asking
council to reconsider the
decision.
The first presentation
came from resident Bill Ste-
venson, and the second
from CUPE National
Servicing Representative
Brian Humphrey.
Both men made various
arguments for their positon.
One argument made was the
financial aspect which is that
it is very inexpensive to keep
ACPs on staff. Another was
that the trend across Ontario
and Canada is to expand the
program; Huron County is
the first to cancel the pro-
gram. Another was that ACPs
have many more skills to
bring to the table than Pri-
mary Care Paramedics
(PCPs).
Humphrey pointed out
that when county council
hired a consultant, the con-
sultant did not suggest they
cancel the program, but
instead to review the pro-
gram. So they did not take
the advice of the consultant
by cancelling.
After Humphrey's presen-
tation, Mayor Ginn, who
voted to eliminate the ACP
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 - 7 PM
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program on county council,
expressed, "I think it's fair to
say you have a biased opin-
ion as well as our previous
speaker, and I'll just say this
- I don't have a biased opin-
ion. I went into this with an
open mind."
Ginn said that at the
county council level, they get
the best information and
make their decisions off that.
Humphreys replied, "That's
where my issue is at. The
experts told you otherwise."
"Well with all due respect,
sir, you weren't in the room
when I was," said Ginn. "You
can read the reports that
were presented. You weren't
there for the questions and
comments that experts
made."
The cost of the ACP pro-
gram was brought up several
times in the presentations;
Stevenson quoted that it
costs residents $1.50 per year
to have the county's ACPs, or
"one cup of coffee':
Ginn said that he did not
vote to eliminate the program
due to the small savings, but
largely because he does not
like that the service is based
on a "lottery system' There are
only 14 ACPs in Huron
County, and there is a greater
chance of not having an ACP
in an ambulance than having
one.
Ginn said he doesn't
believe that's a way to run a
system. They are told often
from educators of municipal
politicians that you need a
certain level of service and to
communicate that clearly to
residents. He said he can't tell
people they have ACPs if they
more likely won't get one.
Stevenson did say in his
presentation that, "If you
would like a chance for a cup
of coffee [of having an ACP
respond to your emergency,]
most people would take that
over no chance:'
Councillor Westerhout
asked how many ACPs they
would need to make sure
there was one in every ambu-
lance, and the estimated reply
was around 26. Ginn said an
application didn't come
through to expand the pro-
gram because there are not
funds to do so.
However other councillors
appeared to feel differently
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about the topic than Ginn.
Councillor Lobb said she'd
like to see the program rein-
stated and expanded, not
eliminated. Councilor West-
erhout said there may have
been poor communication,
and it could be time to reopen
the discussion. The motion
passed to ask to county coun-
cil to reopen and reinstate the
program.
It is not only Central Huron
that passed this motion. Blue -
water and Huron East passed
similar motions concerning
the subject, and these will be
addressed at the Committee
of the Whole meeting in
Goderich on September 21.
There will be a motion to rein-
state the program, and if
someone on the board sec-
onds the motion, there will be
a vote.
Ginn did comment that the
subject had been discussed at
length at county council with
numerous reports over the
years, and without new infor-
mation, he doesn't think
county council will change
their decision. Deputy Mayor
Jewitt, who voted not to elimi-
nate the program in the origi-
nal vote, did express that he
also thought it was a settled
matter.
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