TIGNISH, P.E.I. - Increasing hours for the EMS Rapid Response Unit based in West Prince to 12 a day, and expanding its territory to include the rest of the county, is meant to “continue to meet those growing demands for alternative levels of service in emergency response,” officials say.
Two Tignish organizations expressed fears that the changes will negatively impact their area and will place more pressure on the local fire department.
The unit currently operates 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, in the West Prince region.
James Sullivan, Health P.E.I.'s director of emergency health and planning, said the advanced care paramedic that staffs the RRU will continue to be able to check in on residents in seniors facilities during their down time, but he added the paramedic would have to stop what he’s doing and respond if an emergency call came in.
The closest available emergency vehicle, whether it is an ambulance or the RRU, would respond to any emergency call, Sullivan noted.
Changes are not expected to take place until late May.
While patient transport might result in an ambulance leaving a particular region of the province, Sullivan said: “it is actually with deliberate intent, the rapid response units - our non-transport vehicles – are actually able to stay in their assigned communities and be available as rapid response to other emerging 9-1-1- calls.”
It’s that larger territory that has the Tignish Fire Department worried.
“The territory expanded is going to make a vast difference,” said fire captain Stephen Trail, in suggesting the RRU would be of little value to his department if it is in Kinkora when the 9-1-1 call is placed.
“It’s invaluable to us,” added Trail, noting the department gets a confidence boost in having an RRU and an advanced care paramedic responding with them.
“A lot of times when we go to medical calls, it’s there.”
Related: Tignish residents raise concerns about rapid response unit availability
Along with expanding the hours and region for the western RRU, a new rapid response unit is being added for Queens County. Trail said the department would rather see another RRU provided for East Prince, thereby leaving the existing unit exclusively in West Prince.
There are also three new programs being rolled out provincially, and two of them have “rapid” in their name. Those Rapid Bridging Programs will utilize different advanced care paramedics who will make scheduled visits to patients released from hospital early and patients in home-based palliative care.
Sullivan stresses those programs are separate from the Rapid Response Units, which will continue to perform like they have since that service was introduced in P.E.I. in 2013.
“I absolutely empathize with the concerns that are coming forward. I think it is a situation of continued knowledge translation and information sharing,” Sullivan commented.
Tignish Town Council has arranged for representatives of the fire department and seniors home care co-operative to meet with the minister and deputy minister of Health and Health P.E.I. officials so that the concerns can be addressed.
That meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 9 at the Town Office.
Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry said he is pleased a meeting is being arranged.
“There needs to be some clarity on this,” Perry said.
Sullivan explained there are ambulance vehicles, transfer vehicles and rapid response units within the Island EMS fleet. While the RRUs are assigned to a particular region, the other vehicles move in and out of a region as required.
Tignish chief says his department is busy enough
The chief of the Tignish Fire Department wonders how long his department can sustain the call volume it has been experiencing.
Chief Allan Gavin said Tignish Fire Department responded to 180 calls last year, the majority being medical first responder calls.
Gavin said the department is concerned that broadening the geographical boundaries for the Rapid Response Unit that Island EMS has stationed in West Prince could result in it being unavailable in a Tignish and area emergency, thereby resulting in his department handling even more calls.
The chief said Tignish Fire Department is already the busiest fire department on P.E.I.
Gavin agrees with James Sullivan, director of emergency health and planning services with Health P.E.I. that it was the department’s choice to respond at a higher level than some other departments in the province.
“I don’t want to see the Tignish Fire Department step down a level, but, let’s face it, we’re at 180 calls. If our calls start going up, and some (volunteers) figure they don’t have a lot of time for it anymore… we don’t have a lot of people knocking on the door wanting to get in.”
