Today the Manitoba Government released details on additional
staff and new renovations for the Medical Transportation Co-ordination Centre
(MTCC) in Brandon.
The province has invested over $1.2 million at MTCC,
including the hiring of 10 new staff to dispatch ambulances to emergency medical
calls and arrange inter-facility transfers throughout the province. A newly-renovated
dispatch centre includes the addition of two new work stations to expand
dispatch capabilities to serve those in Brandon, rural and northern Manitoba.
"Medical dispatch and co-ordination are highly
specialized aspects necessary to the delivery of timely and appropriate
pre-hospital care Manitoba families rely on in times of crisis," said MGEU
President Michelle Gawronsky. "Today's investment in staff and resources
at MTCC will no doubt result in better EMS response capabilities and
correspondingly will contribute to improved health outcomes for patients."
The MTCC in Brandon is the primary health transport
dispatch and co-ordination centre for rural and northern Manitoba. Since it
began operations in 2006, it has handled a steadily increasing call volume,
processing 109,000 calls in 2012, with projections it could take as many as
114,000 calls per year by 2014. The MGEU represents 40 workers at MTCC (Local 364).