BARRHEAD - Town of Barrhead councillors want to know exactly how many times Associated Ambulance crews are called upon to help residents in the extended Barrhead community.
That way, council would have some idea of whether Barrhead Regional Fire Services (BRFS) are being dispatched needlessly by 911 operators or whether the province and Alberta Health Services (AHS) are using local firefighters to supplement shortages in the ambulance service.
Coun. Don Smith noted during the Feb. 28 council meeting that in chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc's report, BRFS had responded to 18 medical assistance calls in January, which accounted for 74.75 firefighter hours accounting for the bulk of BRFS responses for the month.
The report also notes that BRFS arrived on the scene before ambulance crews in just over half of the responses.
In January, BRFS firefighters responded to 29 calls for 121.5 firefighter hours.
"Who is dispatching our fire service, the ambulance service (if they have an issue attending) or the emergency dispatch call centre?" Smith asked.
LeBlanc replied it is the 911 operator "based on the information they receive from the caller".
Smith then asked administration if they could find out how many calls local ambulance crews responded to, noting the fire department should not be dispatched, as a matter of routine to all ambulance responses.
Coun. Dave Sawatzky agreed, suggesting they also need to ask whether Associated Ambulance, the company that AHS has contracted to provide ambulance service in the region.
"We keep focusing on our fire service and the costs, but perhaps we should be asking whether the contract with AHS and their service provider and if they are meeting their contractual obligations in our community. Because if they are not meeting their obligations, our fire service will be going to more (medical assistance) calls," he said. "If they do, then we need to find another solution."
For more than two years, councillors (Smith in particular) have voiced their concerns that BRFS firefighters, and other rural fire departments, are being called upon to shore up shortcomings in ambulance service. Moreover, they suggest that if the province continues to use rural fire departments to bolster the ambulance service, municipalities need to be compensated for it.
Smith added that although he has been vocal about how he feels that BRFS is responding to too many medical assistance calls and the need for the province to compensate municipalities, it was never his intention to imply that the BRFS should stop providing medical first responder (MFR) service.
At one time, during a council meeting about a year ago, Smith, in his frustration, suggested that if the province did not start to fund municipalities adequately, they might have to stop the fire department from MFR service.
"Obviously, we want to save costs on the fire side of things as that is our budget. We've said the people in the town and county of Barrhead are worth the few dollars we kick in covering off this service," he said. "But if (BRFS firefighters) don't need to be doing it, I don't want them to. Who is calling them out? Sometimes I wonder if dispatch calls them out because they are mandated to and not because they are needed."
Coun. Ty Assaf said when he was part of the BRFS, the emergency dispatcher would only send firefighters to the top two medical assistance categories.
"But what concerns me is the stress we are putting on firefighters," he said. "When you sign up to be a firefighter, it is to grab a hose, an axe, and the jaws of life, not an AED (defibrillator kit) or to punch a line to resuscitate someone who has overdosed. Those types of events create more mental health stress."
In an October 2022 Barrhead Leader interview, BRFS chief Gary Hove noted that volunteer firefighters know when they sign up that they will be going to medical assistance calls, adding it has not been a detriment to recruiting.
"Our members like going out to these calls and helping out where they can," he said.
Hove also stated during an Oct. 25 town council meeting that they do not attend every call, noting he changed the department's medical assistance protocols in 2018 to only include responses to the most immediate or critical medical calls.
"We set the parameters that we will respond to, and then that is all we respond to unless specifically requested by EMS or the ambulance," he said. "The only time they really request us is for lift assists that are outside our parameters. AHS, at least at this time, cannot come in and tell a department that they have to respond to."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
