A 40-minute wait for an ambulance at a St. Albert fitness facility is adding fuel to the mayor’s demand that the province provide the city with a third full-time ambulance.
A 911 call from the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club last Wednesday led to a 40-minute wait for an ambulance to arrive from Edmonton, said general manager Christine Rasmussen.
After a female patron was showing symptoms of a stroke, gym staff first called the ambulance at 5:40 p.m., Rasmussen said. There had been no response by 6 p.m., so staff called again. The ambulance arrived at 6:20, she said.
“That is completely unacceptable as a response time in St. Albert,” she said.
The responders told staff they’d come from 82 Street and 137 Avenue in Edmonton, she said.
Rasmussen forwarded her concern to Mayor Nolan Crouse, who has been publicly demanding the province fund a third ambulance for the city.
“It’s unacceptable. I have sent the details on this one to the minister, to 10 different individuals in Alberta Health Services (AHS),” Crouse said.
The city formally requested another ambulance in a letter dated April 24. Crouse said he’s giving the health authority until March 24, this Thursday, to respond. Otherwise he’ll be “ramping up” his push for better service.
In the meantime, he’s asked city staff to provide more details about cases of long response times. He also wants to hear from the public.
“After two years of unacceptable performance … I’m ramping up my expectations. I want the public to let me know when there’s incidents,” he said.
The province took over ambulance service in April 2009. Before that St. Albert operated its own ambulances, with two on duty at all times and the capacity to add a third and fourth when needed. Now the city provides two ambulances on contract to the province with relief coming from Edmonton or other communities in the region.
AHS figures released earlier this year showed that Edmonton-based ambulances responding to St. Albert arrive within 22 minutes and five seconds 90 per cent of the time.
This latest incident was the first time the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club has called an ambulance under the new scheme, Rasmussen said. The patient was eventually found to be OK but the situation should be a wakeup call for residents, she said.
“I think it’s really important that St. Albert residents realize that when they need emergency assistance it may not be there,” she said.
“Whenever St. Albert was co-ordinating the service and delivering it, the response time was always 10 minutes or less.”
AHS is still looking into the incident but its investigation so far has determined that it actually took 23 minutes for the ambulance to respond, said Trevor Maslyk, executive director of operations for the north/Edmonton zone. He wouldn’t comment further, citing privacy concerns.
The health authority is reviewing the city’s request for another ambulance by working with city administration, Maslyk said.
The two sides are discussing whether the city needs a 12-hour shift or another 24-hour ambulance, he said, but it’s not been decided that the province will provide a third ambulance.
The analysis will include a financial audit to determine that the city is operating its current ambulances efficiently, he said.
“Obviously we need to do our due diligence in being stewards of public dollars,” Maslyk said.
