In September of 2020, the Government of Saskatchewan announced that there would be a $2.9 million investment made to boost Emergency Medical Services within the province. According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), this investment would enable those services to increase staffing and add response units.
According to information provided within a news release, EMS within Saskatoon has seen an increase in call volumes, with more than 31,900 calls coming in 2019/20 – an 11 per cent increase since 2014-15.
The additional funding was to go towards providing additional staffed ambulances in Saskatoon and Regina to help improve emergency response times in those two cities, as well as the surrounding areas.
Additionally, $780,000 was set aside to increase staffing at Royal University Hospital Emergency Department to help provide a quicker transition of care between EMS and Emergency Department staff, which was to help turn-around times for rural and urban ambulance services, thus improving response times.
Following this announcement, representatives from SHA and Medavie Health Services West, the SHA’s contracted privately-operated EMS provider for Saskatoon and area, met with representatives from Martensville, Warman and surrounding communities to discuss opportunities to enhance emergency medical services response times to the area, given the additional resources.
It was during this meeting that a pilot project was discussed that would see an ambulance relocated to Warman and Martensville on an alternating week-to-week basis when one was available, to spare from Saskatoon. The ambulance would be housed within the two communities fire halls.
In an email from Lisa Thomson, the SHA Media Relations Consultant, it was stated that, “Medavie recruited and staffed the additional ambulance units; however, due to the continued pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposed pilot was put on hold as the additional resources continue to be fully tasked to respond to calls and have not been able to relocate to Warman or Martensville.”
Currently, the SHA has a meeting scheduled with Warman Fire Department Chief Russ Austin, as well as the City of Warman Mayor and City Manager in early April. There are plans to schedule a meeting with the City of Martensville; however, no dates have been set for this.
Martensville Fire Chief Kurt Dyck looks forward to the day that a solution is found that will help to improve ambulance response time within the community. “We thought this was the right start by getting this pilot project rolling and seeing firsthand what a difference it could make. Unfortunately, that didn’t come together the way that we had planned, so for now, I look forward to meeting and discussing opportunities for the community,” Dyck said.
Mayor Kent Muench also looks forward to future conversations on the subject. “I am hoping that through these conversations, we can better understand where resources are and what the barriers are for not having those resources applied locally in our communities. In the end, the ultimate goal is to improve response times, not only on average, but consistently. Ideally, I think that it is better if an ambulance is stationed in Martensville and Warman exclusively,” Muench stated.
