Wednesday March 13 — As Post editor Julie MacIsaac joins dozens of other media types at an invite-only tour of the new medevac area at the International Airport today — a tour which the government provided air transport for — correspondence from Alberta Health Services and the SaveOurMedevac group has also been flying around the province.
Two emails, just minutes apart, one from Alberta Health Services and the province's Health minister and the other from the SaveOurMedevac.ca group and their 90 supporting Edmonton and area doctors hit the province's newsrooms.
Both letters argued opposing sides of the ongoing battle to keep medical - with the doctors, in an open letter to Albertans, asking for more time before the Edmonton City Centre Airport is closed to regional medical airplane flights and the province again defending patient care and the number of actual emergency flights into the Edmonton hospitals from northern Alberta.
Both letters have been copied in full below ...
Alberta's Northern Cities, Rural Municipalities & Counties
RE: Request to delay medevac relocation until alternatives are examined
We have previously written to you about the impending relocation of fixed-wing medevac air ambulance services from the City Centre Airport to the Edmonton International Airport.
The provincial and city governments had previously committed to delay closing the last runway for medevac flights at the City Centre Airport until proper arrangements were in place to preserve timely medevac services for rural communities. They need to honour that promise and there is still time to do so.
Over 90 rural and Edmonton doctors have signed the attached open letter to Albertans explaining that the government medevac relocation plan is seriously flawed. The doctors say that some critically ill and injured patients will not survive the delays in the new system. The number of doctors coming forward to voice their concerns grows daily.
Alberta doctors, including myself, think that the Alberta Government is rushing its decision on the relocation of medevac planes out to the international airport. We feel this decision is based on misinformation and that safer options have been overlooked.
We are urging the Premier to delay the relocation while the City Centre Airport remains open. The City of Edmonton documents are clear. The airport will continue to be open for at least another year or longer. The RCMP, city police, private medevacs, charters, and general aviation will all continue to use the airport.
We are asking the government to consult with the medical professionals and communities to fix the flaws in the relocation plan in order to avoid needless deaths and patient suffering.
We are aware that the government is holding an open house at the new Alberta Health Services triage holding centre. The new holding unit will only add delays. The sickest and most vulnerable patients have already been diagnosed by the sending doctors. Delaying critical patients having a major heart attack, stroke, premature labour, major trauma etc does not help. The holding unit will make things worse with more delays and require at least one additional unnecessary transfer of patient care. The holding centre is not equipped with the equipment or staff to perform the life saving specialty procedures that are only avalaible at the Royal Alexandra, Stollery and U of A hospitals.
We are mindful that you may be attending the triage centre grand opening at the Edmonton International Airport. We encourage you to discuss these important unresolved issues with others at the opening. The future of accessible health care for your communities is in your hands.
If the relocation plan is implemented, it will only be a matter of time before the families of patients who do not survive the increased transport time will allege it caused the death of their loved ones. The controversy surrounding these incidents will significantly undermine the public's trust and confidence in AHS, the health care system, and the government.
It is imperative for patients, for Albertans and for the health care system, that everyone ensures that any relocation plan has been properly vetted and will work. This simply has not yet happened.
We are respectfully requesting that the March 15th relocation be postponed. We propose that a collaborative process be developed where all of the available options to ensure rural and northern communities' timely access to tertiary care are considered and assessed. We repeat that the airport remains open and will remain open for at least another year. There is time to do this right. We must do it right. We owe it to our patients, our communities, and all Albertans. The relocation date of March 15th was set by the government. The government can delay that date to implement a collaborative review process.
March 15th is fast approaching. We need to avoid this serious degradation to health care for rural and northern communities.
Sincerely,
Kerry Pawluski, MD
President
Save Our medevac Service Society
www.SaveOurMedevac.ca
New medevac base ensures safe, high-quality patient care
Edmonton... A new air ambulance base at the Edmonton International Airport (EIA) will ensure timely, high-quality care to northern patients in a medical emergency. The new medevac base opens Friday, March 15.
"As Minister of Health, I can assure Albertans that patient safety and care will not be compromised when medevac services move from the Edmonton City Centre Airport to the Edmonton International Airport," said Health Minister Fred Horne. "This new state-of-the-art medevac base will provide the timely treatment and transport that critical and non-critical patients need. The fastest possible access to Edmonton area hospitals is assured."
The move comes after the City of Edmonton announced it would shut down the Edmonton City Centre Airport and redevelop the airport lands. To ensure both patient safety and quality of care were not affected, the Alberta government asked the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) to review the issue and is implementing all 18 of the HQCA's recommendations.
The result is a new 3,600 square-metre facility that has been designed with patient care in mind.
- Patient transfers will be done inside, in full light, away from the cold and from slippery surfaces. Currently, patients are transferred to an ambulance on the tarmac, year-round.
- A dedicated ground ambulance fleet based at the EIA will transport patients to and from hospitals. Currently, the two-person flight medical crew also has to drive patients to hospital, with one driving and one attending to the patient. Critical patients will now be attended to by the two-person flight crew and an additional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) paramedic, while a fourth EMS practitioner drives the ambulance.
- For non-critical patients, flight crews can transfer the patient to the two-person ambulance crew at EIA, and immediately return to northern communities to respond to other calls.
- A six-bed patient transition area for stable patients will have EMS staff providing care to non-critical patients for short periods of time.
- Stretchers are now compatible between ground ambulances, fixed wing air ambulances and helicopters, so a patient never has to be unbundled from their stretcher to be transferred.
"We don't just transport patients, we treat them and care for them every step of the way," says Dr. Ian Phelps, Senior Medical Director for Alberta Health Services (AHS) EMS. "Our plan ensures patients continue to receive safe, timely and reliable medevac services, and we have taken this opportunity to enhance the care northern Albertans will receive."
Patients will continue to receive non-stop care. A transport physician oversees every critical transfer, monitoring the patient's progress in real time and working with the sending and receiving physicians from the time the patient is stabilized for transfer, to the time the patient arrives at hospital.
"If a patient's condition changes mid-flight, the transport physician can order alternative arrangements, such as helicopter transfer, to be in place well before the patient arrives," says Dr. Phelps. "Every patient has a team of medical experts around them to ensure they are receiving the appropriate level of care at all times."
About 3,000 patients are flown to Edmonton each year via fixed wing air ambulance. The vast majority - about 80 per cent - of those patients are arriving for scheduled procedures, appointments, or for admission to a higher level of care, not emergencies.
About five 'red' patients a month flown to Edmonton will require urgent access to critical care. Those patients can be flown directly to hospital from EIA by STARS helicopter, which is located in the same hangar building. STARS will continue to land directly at hospitals when transporting a patient from a community hospital or from the scene of an emergency, such as a serious car crash.
Dr. Mark MacKenzie, Medical Director of Air Ambulance for AHS-EMS and STARS, has provided oversight of medevac services for more than 10 years.
"While timeliness is a component of all transports, for the large majority of patients it is more important to provide efficient, high-quality care and safe transport, rather than embark on a race against the clock.
"This innovative facility offers significant benefits for patients which don't exist today. Indoor transfers, more EMS providers per patient, and an increase in aircraft availability are obvious wins, but the base will also be a hub for fixed wing, ground ambulance and STARS, providing opportunities for collaboration which can only be good for patients."
Since 2010, 62 patients have already been flown to EIA due to closures at Edmonton City Centre Airport, including seven "red" patients. A patient chart review shows that none suffered an adverse medical impact.
The new travel times from EIA to major Edmonton hospitals will be approximately the same as travel times for patients from Calgary International Airport to the Foothills Medical Centre.
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than 3.8 million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.
With just two days until the scheduled transfer of medevac services to the International Airport, we'll have all the details on the 11th hour discussions, PLUS Julie's coverage of the open house tour of the new facility.
