Monday, June 29, 2009
** Edmonton ambulances hurting for paramedics?
** Victoria, Australia medics start paperwork bans
** New Brunswick EMS gets new CEO
CANADA NEWS
** Edmonton’s emergency medical services is apparently hurting for paramedics. That, at least, is the contention being dangled by the Edmonton Sun (June 24) which said the service is having difficulty maintaining enough paramedics on board field units. According to the newspaper, at least two occasions last week saw some EMS units run with only EMTs;standard procedure is to have one EMT and one paramedic as crew. Alberta Health Services spokesman Dan Weiss said all of the affected vehicles were deployed within minutes of the Royal Alexandria Hospital. He also said BLS crews did have the option of calling for ALS back-up when the need arose.
** Ambulance New Brunswick has a new CEO. The Daily Gleaner (Adam Bowie/June 25) said Alan Stephen will fulfill the role, at the same time as becoming the chief operating officer of New Brunswick EMS. The former operations director of Ornge’s land and air ambulance service, Stephen is also a previous general manager of infrastructure and emergency services for Sudbury, Ontario. Additional experience includes time served with the Canadian military as an officer.
AUSTRALIA NEWS
** Paramedics in Victoria stepped up their industrial action Friday and Saturday by instituting paperwork bans. Yahoo 7 News (June 25) quoted Ambulance Employees Association spokesman Steve McGhie as saying the union hopes the bans force the government to return to the negotiations table. Running only for four hours at the beginning of each shift, the approach comes after unfruitful meetings between the two sides last week. The main issue in the dispute centers on break time between shifts. Union officials say medics need 10 hours to combat work related fatigue, while the service offers only 8.
