Winnipeg paramedics from Local 911 could soon be responding to calls in small sedans instead of ambulances.
Members of the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service are driving a plan that would see Winnipeg paramedics criss-crossing the city in Ford Focuses to triage and treat some of the thousands of non-life-threatening cases called in to 911 every year.
It’s all part of a new plan that is intended to reduce pressure on the city’s emergency rooms, ease the chronic shortage of paramedics and cope better with the looming H1N1 flu pandemic.
The program would see "community paramedics” acting more like nurses to make house calls, in response to less serious cases such as bad flus, sprained ankles, cuts, and seizures. Similar programs in Europe have been in place for years.
“We need to find a smarter way to treat people and this is just a concept at this point” says Local 911 President Chris Broughton. “But we know there are ways we can provide better care and better access to health care in our community. I think this concept is another good way of doing that.”
The smaller vehicles would be equipped with some of the same gear found in a full-scale ambulance, like medications and intravenous supplies, but would use a triage checklist similar to those used in emergency rooms. Based on that checklist, medics could treat someone on the spot, call a taxi or stretcher service to transport someone to a clinic, or strap the patient into the passenger seat and provide a lift to an urgent-care clinic or even an ER.
Full-scale ambulances would still respond to critical cases, like heart attacks or car accidents, which only account for about one in ten calls medics respond to.
The cars could be on city streets within weeks if the provincial government approves the plan. The WFPS is waiting for Health Minister Theresa Oswald to give the pilot project her approval.