LAKELAND - The Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) is sounding the alarm over what the president of the organization describes as a "dire" situation when it comes to ambulance service across the province - and here in the Lakeland.
"Every day across this province red alerts are being declared - no crews to respond to calls; ambulances are being dropped - no staff so the ambulance gets parked for a shift, or down graded. And, as the cities become more and more busy, resources are pulled from rural areas, leaving huge areas of the province with no paramedics to respond to medical emergencies," explains Mike Parker, president with HSAA and Advanced Care Paramedic.
When asked specifically what the situation is like in the St. Paul-Bonnvyille-Lac La Biche regions, Parker offered an example.
"Today is the 24th. Since the beginning of this month an ambulance meant to cover St. Paul has been parked with no crews eight times. That’s 33.34 per cent of the time this month St. Paul has been without an ambulance because the province doesn’t have enough paramedics to crew them. This means the crews that are out there are being run to exhaustion and beyond," says Parker.
"When your 12-hour shift ends, you have a chance to turn over your keys to the next crew, and step back and reset yourself. What’s happening now, is that these crews are scheduled for a 12-hour day, working 13 and 14 hours and then finding themselves hours away from their home base. It’s chipping away at their ability to recover from it."
Crews are working stretches without enough time for a bathroom break, never mind a mental break.
"They are being wrung out because they are working in a perpetual red alert scenario. They are exhausted."
Offering more specifics on the situation, Parker explains the average response time for an ambulance is supposed to be eight minutes. "If, and I want to stress 'if', an ambulance is available to respond to a call we are seeing response times over 60 minutes as crews are sent from up to and exceeding 100 kms away."
The effects of strain on the system are being felt in other areas. At the Sept. 13 Town of St. Paul council meeting, Coun. Ron Boisvert spoke about how the local fire department, which is made up primarily of volunteers, has seen an increase in medical assists.
It was noted that St. Paul is fortunate to have members who have backgrounds and training that translate well, but concerns exist.
"There are some concerns for sure," said Town of St. Paul Mayor Maureen Miller, during the meeting. She added that continued pressure needs to be put on Alberta Health Services.
Speaking to why the issues are being seen across the province, Parker says there is simply a lack of paramedics.
"There has not been an effort to keep up with population growth in Alberta for more than a decade now. What we are seeing isn’t only because of COVID or the opioid crisis. Both have exasperated a problem that has existed long before this government, or the one before it."
HSAA has been pushing the provincial government to address the issue for more than a decade, says Parker.
"The moment the new Health Minister was sworn in, we sent a letter to his office asking for a meeting, specifically to talk about this issue and the state of the health care system. We have yet to hear back from the Minister," said Parker on Friday.
In an effort to get information out, HSAA has taken to social media, posting when specific communities are experiencing periods without ambulance service.
"We needed to get information to people about what’s really happening. We have seen the current government downplay what is happening to Alberta’s health system for a long time now and people need to realize just how dire the situation really is," says Parker, who notes that what is being posted online is really ust a snapshot of what the actual situation is.
A number of communities in the Lakeland, including St. Paul, Two Hills, Elk Point, and Lac La Biche have found their way onto the HSAA social media posts in the month of September.
