Ambulance service in Swift Current wants to upgrade to higher level of care
Hutch Ambulance Swift Current aims to become an Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance service to provide a higher level of pre-hospital medical care, but it will result in an increase in the basic pickup ambulance fee.
Cameron Hutchinson, the co-owner and EMS chief of Hutch Ambulance Service Inc., provided details about he proposed change, during a presentation at a regular City council meeting, Jan. 9.
He provided an overview of the operational activities of Hutch Ambulance Service and requested an indication of support from the City of Swift Current for the proposed ALS designation of the ambulance service in the city.
“The big thing is, when we make our application to go to Advanced Life Support service, we have to have the support of the community,” he said. “So what we’re asking for is a letter from the council that you support us in going towards an Advanced Life Support service.”
Hutch Ambulance Service Inc. was established in 2008 and it currently operates in Swift Current, Assiniboia, Ponteix and Moosomin.
He noted the ambulance service in Swift Current has been providing paramedic services and patient care for over 40 years. Hutch Ambulance Service Inc. purchased the Swift Current ambulance service on April 1, 2020.
“When we took over in 2020, there was a big pressure from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and the Ministry,” he said.
“They wanted us to be an Advanced Life Support service. So within a few months we were able to actually have two advanced care paramedics to start offering that service and even tinkering on having a third one, but we gave a scholarship to one of our employees two years ago, and she will be done by February or March.”
This will make it possible to apply for the ALS designation for Hutch Ambulance Swift Current. It will mean the basic ambulance pickup fee will increase from the current $245 to $325. The per kilometre rate of $2.30 and the waiting time rate of $100 per hour will remain unchanged.
He mentioned the per kilometre rate does not apply to any call in the city. The provincial Senior Citizens’ Ambulance Assistance Program for seniors aged 65 and over will cap the fee at $135 per ambulance trip.
It is also possible for eligible individuals to apply to other provincial programs that provides financial assistance for emergency transport.
Another option is supplementary health insurance that will reimburse ambulance fees.
The pickup rate of $325 is charged for all ALS ambulance services offered in communities across the province. “That helps to offset the costs of advanced care and the cost of the drugs and the equipment we have to have for those,” he said.
He noted that Hutch Ambulance Service had to spend about $100,000 to buy equipment when it began to employ the two advanced care paramedics and the increase in the cost of drugs has also been significant.
It requires two years of additional training to become an advanced care paramedic. They can deal with more complex medical situations and for that reason an ALS ambulance needs to have additional equipment and drugs on board.
“Advanced care paramedics can give a whole bunch more drugs, they can intubate a patient, they can stick the tube down,” he said.
“The big thing is the facility transfers out of our city here too, instead of us taking a doctor or a nurse out of our facility and shorting our hospital of a doctor or a nurse, our advanced care paramedic can do that call. So it saves the people that way or the hospital being short a doctor or nurse, but the big thing is they can give a lot more drugs and there’s a lot more skillset that they bring forward too.”
Hutch Ambulance Swift Current currently employs two advanced care paramedics, two intermediate care paramedics, 12 primary care paramedics and about four or five casual staff who help to fill in shifts.
They experienced an increase in call volume from around 2,600 calls in 2021 to 2,939 calls in 2022. Hutch Ambulance Swift Current is contracted to staff three crews on a 24/7 basis.
One unit is always on duty in the city and surrounding area. The other two ambulance units provide back-up and also take care of transfers to other health facilities.
“We’re lobbying right now with our call volume and everything to get a fourth car in the city,” he said. “That’s a huge part of our business plan for this year. So we’re hoping that SHA and the Ministry approves that so we can get a fourth unit. Crew two and three are run off their feet pretty much all the time going to different cities. We’re doing a lot of transfers right now for Regina and Saskatoon.”
Council members had various questions after the presentation about the proposed upgrade to an ALS ambulance service in Swift Current and what the benefits will be in comparison to the higher cost of the basic pickup rate.
Hutchinson said the government subsidy for ambulance service has not changed in about 20 years.
“Right now, our subsidy covers about 40 per cent of our cost,” he noted. “The rest of it is the user fees that we make off the mileage and the calls and the wait time.”
Mayor Al Bridal said he is not against supporting the change to an ALS ambulance service in Swift Current, but he felt council will require additional information before it can consider issuing a letter of support.
“The cost is big and I realize you got extra drugs, extra equipment, extra training, but it is a big cost and 60 per cent is borne by our citizens, not by the province,” he said.
Bridal said after the meeting he is specifically interested in data about how an ALS ambulance service will make a difference to save lives.
“Decisions that are made quickly without all the information quite often turn out wrong and I don’t want to be wrong in this decision,” he mentioned.
“Our citizens, their lives are very important to me, but so are their pocketbooks very important to me. I want to make sure this is what’s best for our citizens and I want to have that discussion with council.”