Thursday, June 7, 2007

** Calgary medics scramble during call volume spike

** New South Wales ambulances struggle to meet target response times

CANADA NEWS

** Calgary EMS medics in Alberta scrambled Tuesday evening to attend calls, after a spike in help hailers occurred during a rain deluge. According to a press release put out by the organization (June 6), practitioners responded to over 100 calls between 7 and 11 p.m. No serious patients were treated as a result of the thunder storm. However a firefighter burned in a house fire was transported to Foothills Hospital in stable condition.

AUSTRALIA NEWS

** New South Wales ambulances continue to struggle to reach target response times. The AAP (June 6) said the service has been dubbed with the worst in the country, with no improvements seen since at least 2001. At that time, an auditor-general’s report slamed the organization for slow responses, ineffective computer aided dispatch and staffing issues. Despite improvements in the latter areas, call stats still remain slow. During 2005-06, ambulances arrived at 90 per cent of life threatening calls within 19.6 minutes. In 2001-02, the number was 19.2 minutes. The overwhelming majority of patients, however, indicated high levels of satisfaction with the service. NSW Ambulances Service media manager John Wilson scoffed at criticisms, saying lengthy responses were due to the extended territory covered by medics.