It’s been a long battle for the City of Red Deer who have been pushing back against consolidating EMS dispatch since the plans were simply recommendations on the Ernst and Young Report in February of 2020. A consolidated EMS dispatch is thought to save province 5 million dollars, but City Council believes the decision will cost lives.  Now, the City has submitted a formal offer to the Government of Alberta to take on the cost of emergency dispatch for the City of Red Deer and surrounding communities in order to keep a local dispatch.

The change would mean that emergency calls would receive response from the AHS communications centre in Calgary rather than Red Deer’s Emergency Service’s Emergency Communications Centre. Red Deer operates an integrated Fire and Emergencyu Ambulance Service where firefighters and paramedics are dually trained as FireMedics. Emergency responders are trained to respond to any situation regardless of the service requested.

“We are extremely concerned that under AHS dispatch there will not only be an impact to patient care in medical emergencies, but our first responders will see increased risk as fire and ambulance dispatchers will no longer be in the same room, communicating safety and patient information in real time,” said Ken McMullen, Deputy General Manager, Development and Protective Services. “The City’s proposal to fund ambulance dispatch locally means our operations at Red Deer’s accredited 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Centre would remain the same, and residents will see no delay in response times from Red Deer Emergency Services.”

City Council received $1.2 million from Alberta Health Services for their operation of their local ambulance dispatch which is money the City would lose if a consolidated plan moves forward despite their pleas for another solution.

 “City Council remains extremely concerned that the decision by the Province of Alberta to consolidate ambulance dispatch will mean the degradation of emergency patient care for citizens in Red Deer and Central Alberta, as the current municipal model provides the best possible patient outcomes,” said Mayor Tara Veer. “If the Province won’t consider reversing this decision, then we are prepared to fund ambulance dispatch locally in an effort to protect the health and wellbeing of Red Deerians. The City has been providing FireMedic services to AHS at no cost for a number of years, a value worth $2.15 million in 2019 alone. Council remains committed to a zero per cent property tax increase in 2021 and 2022.”

On December 7th, 2020, Red Deer City Council approved one-time funding of $722,800 for 2022 to maintain a local dispatch service plus $77,200 for 2021 and 2022 to cover incremental cost of funding the dispatch if the province accepts the City’s offer.

A consolidated ambulance dispatch is scheduled to take effect on January 12th, 2021.