When is Service Not Really Service?

Earlier this year I commented on an article that ran in a western Manitoba community newspaper suggesting legislative changes would make it difficult to recruit "volunteer ambulance attendants" (Ambulance Driver's Good Enough for Municipal Politicians). That same argument has surfaced once again...this time in the Interlake. A story that ran in the Interlake Spectator on December 7th was mirrored by CBC News yesterday...with municipal officials stating that elimination of the Ambulance Operator (AO) license could result in Riverton Ambulance Service having to close it's doors.

The emphasis that is placed on maintaining volunteer ambulance services in Manitoba is imprudent and ill-conceived. While I acknowledge that changes in our legislation have introduced challenges for ambulance operators and personnel alike, it is most certainly in the public's best interest for all stakeholders to work toward achieving those milestones rather than arguing against the obvious benefits. As suggested in this latest furor, rural ambulance transport times are often quite long. Add to that the fact that a single rural ambulance responding to a motor vehicle collision or other accident may very well need to treat multiple patients and one would assume the need for increased licensing requirements as set out by this legislation is both clear and sensible.

Until the Emergency Medical Response and Stretcher Transportation Act and accompanying Regulations became law in April of 2006, Manitoba had the lowest education requirements for ambulance personnel amongst all provinces in the country. When first implemented over two decades ago, an Ambulance Operator (ambulance driver) license required only a sixteen hour basic first aid course. While that may have seemed acceptable for ambulance attendants at the time, I find it absolutely inconceivable that anyone might condone this in today’s society. Even Manitoba's new requirement for ambulance personnel to be trained to a minimum Emergency Medical Responder level (Technician) would be considered low in many other Canadian jurisdictions.

Access to our emergency medical services system should not be measured simply by how quickly an ambulance arrives at a residence, but rather how quickly the patient receives appropriate and definitive treatment for his or her health emergency. Those who place emphasis on immediate response times and volunteer service should be encouraged to utilize whatever resources might be available to them and seek to enhance the EMS system in a first responder capacity…an area where volunteer commitment can and should be encouraged.

Public policy regarding upgrading or changing an EMS system is far too frequently clouded by the emotions of providers, patients, and elected officials. Talk of losing an ambulance because of this legislation triggers unwarranted fear amongst residents and I would argue deprives them of the very health care they really deserve.

We expect police car “drivers” to be police officers. We expect anyone driving a fire truck to be a firefighter. When we need emergency medical care, why don’t we expect an ambulance to be staffed by people able to provide that care? Anything less, I suggest, is a disservice.