A pilot project that would have seen an ambulance based in Warman and Martensville has so far not gotten out of the starting blocks.
And that isn’t sitting well with members of Warman City Council.
“It’s a serious issue,” said Warman Mayor Gary Philipchuk during a city council committee of the whole meeting on Monday, February 15. “We were promised action on this front, and it hasn’t happened.
“Clearly, we need to follow up and keep the conversation going at the political level so a solution can be reached.”
The problem of ambulance delays in the cities of Warman and Martensville is an ongoing concern, according to Warman Fire Chief Russ Austin.
In a report to the February 15 council meeting, Austin said volunteer firefighters in the North Corman Park region north of Saskatoon are medically-trained First Responders who are able to assess, stabilize and treat patients until Medavie Health Services West paramedics from Saskatoon arrive on the scene.
The care that patients receive at the hands of First Responders in communities north of Saskatoon is second to none, said Austin.
However, the sheer number of calls presents challenges, particularly when response times are lengthened because of the need for First Responders to don additional personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January, 2021, Warman Fire Rescue (WFR) responded to 28 medical calls. During the calendar year 2020, they were called to a total of 381 medical emergencies – an average of more than one a day.
The numbers are similar for Martensville Fire Department (MFD). In 2020, MFD members responded to a total of 265 medical emergency calls. (They also responded to 105 calls for motor vehicle collisions, fires and other non-medical emergencies in 2020.)
While they are able to assess and treat patients on scene, First Responders are not allowed to transport patients to hospital.
At peak times when ambulances are busy in Saskatoon, there are often delays of more than thirty minutes between the time First Responders arrive on scene and when the ambulance arrives. Occasional delays of up to an hour or more have also occurred.
Many times the bottlenecks result from ambulances being tied up at hospitals, waiting to turn over care of a patient to emergency room staff.
Paramedics staffing the ambulances are working flat-out, but the sheer volume of calls makes their job extremely challenging.
In recent weeks, said Austin, ambulance response times appear to have improved, particularly when the ambulance is based in Saskatoon’s north end.
The pilot project that was approved by the SHA late last year and was to have begun in early January was based on a scenario where there were three ambulances free to respond to emergency calls. Two free ambulances would respond to calls in Saskatoon. The third free ambulance, meanwhile, would be based in Warman and Martensville, alternating on a weekly basis between the two communities and housed in each community’s fire hall.
“The SHA said the trial was temporary but the funding to address responses in our region was permanent, so I do not know what their next trial will be,” Austin told the February 15 council meeting. “It is my understanding that Medavie rarely has two cars free in Saskatoon, let alone a third free car to come and be based in our area.”
Several members of Warman City Council suggested during the February 15 meeting that the provincial Ambulance Act, last tweaked in the early 1990s, may need to be reviewed and updated. Under the current legislation, Warman and Martensville are deemed to be ‘rural’ centres. Both cities are well over 10,000 population each and are among the fastest-growing urban centres in Canada.
The provincial legislation sets benchmarks for ambulance response times in both urban and rural centres. In urban centres, the benchmark is for an ambulance to be at the patient within eight minutes, 90 per cent of the time. In rural centres, the benchmark is for an ambulance to be at the patient within 30 minutes, 90 per cent of the time.
Austin said the average response time for Warman Fire Rescue medical calls is under nine minutes. He added that ambulance paramedic crews arrive, on average, anywhere from three minutes to 56 minutes after First Responders are on the scene.
“It certainly puts the onus on the First Responder program in our cities and all surrounding towns to be the first point of contact for medical emergencies,” said Austin. “We assess the situation and stabilize what we can, and then advise the ambulance service to upgrade or downgrade their response.
“If not for the professional quality of EMS delivered by First Responders in the North Corman Park region; if we were not here to respond, there would be a huge public outcry for EMS delays.”
Warman City Councillor Marshall Seed said during the February 15 city council meeting he’s concerned about the increasing number of medical calls Warman First Responders are called to, particularly if there is more than one or two in quick succession.
“If we have one medical call, we’re okay,” said Seed. “But if there’s two at the same time, we’re stressed for responders, and if there’s three, forget it.”
Martensville-Warman MLA Terry Jenson said he shares councillors’ concerns over ambulance response times, and noted the issue is front and centre on the provincial government’s radar.
Jenson said there have been discussions between the Cities of Warman and Martensville, the health authority and the Ministry of Health dating back to 2019 on basing a full-time ambulance in Warman and Martensville.
“The idea is the ambulance would serve not just Warman and Martensville, but also Osler, Dalmeny, Langham and the rural area north of Saskatoon,” said Jenson in an interview February 16.
Jenson said he is continuing the work of former MLA Nancy Heppner in advocating for improved ambulance service in the region.
“Warman, Martensville and other communities in the area aren’t getting any smaller,” said Jenson. “And the response times aren’t getting any better.
“This is something that is sorely needed. There are 13 cities in Saskatchewan, and Martensville and Warman are the only two without full-time ambulances.
“I think in the past it’s been because of our proximity to Saskatoon, but with the growth we’ve seen in the past 14 years, the number of calls has also increased exponentially. It’s pretty plain we need that service out here sooner rather than later.”
Jenson said responsibility for the file, which formerly came under the Minister of Health’s jurisdiction, now rests with the provincial Minister of Rural and Remote Health, Everett Hindley.
“Everett is a new Minister and he’s been brought up to speed,” said Jenson. “We’ve met with him a couple of times and I’m actively lobbying him to get this done.”
Philipchuk said the City of Warman, in partnership with Martensville, intends to press the issue with its MLA and the Minister responsible.
“We want to hear the Minister’s plan and have a good conversation,” said Philipchuk at the February 15 meeting. “We’ll put together recommendations for a meeting specific to our needs here. We want an innovative solution, not a band-aid measure.”
At the time the pilot project was approved by the SHA in late 2020, the provincial government allocated $1.8 million to improve ambulance service in the region. A portion of those funds was also aimed at improving ambulance services in Saskatoon.
While the Warman-Martensville ambulance pilot project has so far failed to take off, the funding is still there for an alternative plan, according to Austin.
“We had assurances that even though the pilot project was temporary, the funding model was permanent,” Austin told the February 15 council meeting. “We’re hopeful there will be a Plan B or a Plan C put in place.”
Martensville Fire Chief Kurt Dyck said he’s hopeful continuing discussions on the issue will lead to a positive solution.