Thursday, August 30, 2007

** Ottawa EMS chief nixes troop support decals on trucks

** Queensland medics not sold on ambulance levy

CANADA NEWS

** Despite Ottawa police vehicles sporting “Support our Troops” stickers, the city’s paramedic service will not. That is the word from the Ottawa Sun (Jon Willing/August 29) which quoted EMS service chief Anthony Di Monte as saying such a decision must be made at the hands of elected officials. Di Monte, who said he did not intend to pursue the matter anyway, made the comments despite allowing medics to wear ribbons on their uniforms. Di Monte’s ruling is in line with that of at least one city councilor. Alex Cullen said he objects to the police service decals, insisting they make a political statement on public property. Meanwhile, city fire trucks have brandished the yellow stickers for several months. Former mayor Bob Chiarelli supported the move.

AUSTRALIA NEWS

** A steady 10 per cent increase per year in Queensland ambulance call-outs since 2003 has EMS workers sounding the alarm. The Courier Mail (Robyn Ironside, Tanya Chilcott and Patrick Lion/August 30) said medics are struggling to keep up with the demand which can amount to as many as 700 code-one help hails a day. Attributing some of the increase to crank callers, several pundits are pointing to the ambulance levy introduced four years ago as one of the factors fuelling the problem. Replacing a subscription service, the $97.99 per year tax collected from electrical bills has brought little financial boost to the service, at the same time as opening the door to system abuse. Raising some $99 million in 2003/04, the trickle down to EMS during that period was only about $27.8 million.