City renews agreement with AHS to deliver EMS through Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services
The City of Lethbridge has renewed its master service agreement with Alberta Health Services (AHS) to deliver emergency medical services (EMS) through Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services (LFES).
"In 2009, when we entered our first contract with Alberta Health Services, we provided 9,300 EMS calls annually," said LFES chief Greg Adair.
"We are now responding to 26,000 EMS calls annually... so we continue to get busier and busier."
LFES has signed a new two-and-a-half-year agreement with AHS to deliver EMS through the fire department, with the possibility of extending it to five years.
"Lethbridge emergency services provides 10 ambulances at peak times during the day for the citizens of Lethbridge and during the evenings and nights, we go down to as few as four ambulances," Adair said.
Adair says more ambulances have continued to be added to the fleet, including last year when two more rolled into service.
He says all ambulances are at the advanced-care paramedic level.
Along with the new contract, the fire department is actively looking at ways to enhance operational efficiency and service delivery.
"We look at placement of ambulances throughout the city," Adair said.
"So, we're continually reviewing where calls are occurring, where our ambulances are located and how we can actually and effectively meet the call volume."
The city says the renewed agreement will also help reduce the tax-supported dollars needed to operate the EMS component of LFES.
Adair says while the contract was set to end on March 31, there will be no disruption in service when changing over to the new agreement.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.