Community paramedics program to expand later this year
Albertans suffering from chronic and non-emergency health issues will have another resource once the province expands its community paramedics program later this year.
The community paramedicine program, which started in Calgary in 2012, has been given an additional $11 million from the province to hire 26 paramedics to expand the service to Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Grand Prairie and Peace River.
Another 10 community paramedics will be added in both Calgary and Edmonton, while each city will also get its own dedicated dispatch centre to help co-ordinate the program and send paramedics out to calls.
Brandy Payne, Alberta’s associate health minister, said community paramedics help Alberta’s elderly and vulnerable patients, while freeing up emergency ambulance services and emergency rooms by avoiding stressful and unnecessary trips to hospital.
“Community paramedics help Albertans get the right care at the right time, right in their own communities or neighbourhoods,” Payne said.
“Working with EMS dispatch, the assess, treat and refer program will link patients to services and support in real time when emergency care is not needed.”
Community paramedics began operating in Red Deer, Camrose and Wetaskiwin this month. The service will roll out in Grand Prairie and Peace River in March, and Lethbridge and Medicine Hat in May.
Payne said emergency response teams in Alberta respond to about 400,000 calls every year, with around 15,000 calls for community paramedics.
Barb Ferguson, executive director of the Alzheimer Society of Calgary, said the program is already making a difference for elderly Albertans, specifically those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Of the nearly 42,000 Albertans with dementia, Ferguson said caregivers are often an elderly spouse or family member who have their own medical concerns.
She says people with dementia who go to the emergency room with their caregivers rarely return home, and community paramedics give patients and family members a lifeline to health services that avoid a long wait in the ER or even long-term hospitalization.
Data from Alberta Health Services last year showed the number of ER visits in Calgary was around 248,000 in 2012. The next year, that number rose to around 300,000.
From 2012 to 2016, the number of patients brought to ER by ambulance went from 59,000 to 75,000.
Lisa McQuaid is one of the community paramedics who has been making the rounds in southern Alberta for the past two years.
She says the program has been a success in Calgary and the expansion will provide that same level of specialized health-care services to more Albertans, while freeing up first responders to deal with emergencies.
“There’s most definitely a time and place for transport, but there’s a great opportunity for front-line staff and for patients at keeping people home where they want to be,” she said.
To contact the community paramedic program, call 855-491-5868.
The program operates 365 days a year between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.