06/18/2024
We’ve asked these municipalities to speak up before about hallway waits and response times.
Because AHS EMS is so completely unaccountable, their voice has been ineffective.
Now we’re asking them to do one simple thing.
Letter sent to both ABmunis.ca and RMAlberta.com
'City, Town and County Councils in Alberta are being inappropriately asked to hold in camera meetings, which contain no privileged information, by and with Alberta ambulance service bureaucrats.'
The AHS EMS request to Cochrane Town Council to host their delegation in camera at their June 3 meeting was rejected by the Michael Derricott, CAO. This may be attributed to the 'heads up' we gave them.
Previously, on March 11 Okotoks Town Council had a closed, confidential meeting with AHS EMS.
An email from Mayor Tanya Thorn is attached referencing the meeting.
*NB - The Councils I mention in this email are not being blamed for anything. They accepted in good faith the requests from AHS EMS for an in camera meeting. I would have done the same.
These AHS EMS presentations occur every 6 mo - 1 year.
They include a .ppt and the very important Q&A which Council conducts with the AHS delegation.
As Paramedics we attend these presentations in person when we are able or through links provided online, in an effort to hold AHS EMS managers accountable. This is more difficult when they convince Councils to host them in camera.
In early March Claresholm Town Council also had a closed, confidential meeting with AHS EMS.
On March 25 Nanton Town Council also had a closed, confidential meeting with AHS EMS.
Nanton Council agenda noted Alberta Health Services was attending.
Claresholm Council noted only FOIP Sec. 24 - Intergovernmental Relations.
The April 10 Foothills County Council meeting was a little different. We found out two weeks in advance they would be hosting an AHS EMS delegation. We took the opportunity to address the issue with some of the Councilors. As a result, Foothills County refused to conduct both the AHS EMS presentation and the very important Q&A session in camera. Councilor Oel made a very strong statement about their concerns regarding EMS in Foothills County. (2:06:00 mark) https://www.youtube.com/live/m8DOm6tDjIY?si=7LoVBL5Yw3jX3h6m
On April 22 High River Town Council took a principled stand when responding to concerns about the in camera session they had with AHS EMS on April 8. (35:00 mark) https://www.youtube.com/live/WsqdOVmr1WE?si=rRSjftddjM_86jnV
We are a group of Paramedics who have collected many emails and texts from Alberta Paramedics about the amount of time they're spending away from the Municipalities where they are based. We have worked with many Municipal Councils in the Calgary Area and have FOIP'd deployment & relocation data for Urban & Rural Community Ambulances. We also FOIP the number of non-urgent transfers these Ambulance have done, which again take them out of their Communities, by month, for the past 5 years. We have all of the hospital hallway waits data since 2014. The last time AHS EMS achieved the 45 minute hospital offload delay target for 50% of resources was on Aug 23, 2023. That was over 250 days ago.
We have also helped Citizens in Communities around Calgary create and maintain EMS Crisis - Citizen Action Groups. These groups support their local communities by working with Paramedics and Town Councils, educating them, monitoring response times and holding AHS EMS managers accountable at these presentations. We speak with journalists, host First Responder Appreciation Day events and generally stay active and informed about this Essential Services issue.
On May 14 an AHS EMS delegation attended in Airdrie, this time in front of the Community Safety and Social Services Committee.
This meeting was substantially different, as this Committee of Airdrie Councilors had been well informed and prepared by Paramedics over the past 3 years about what to expect. It certainly didn't go as smoothly as AHS EMS expected. Frankly, it was a scathing indictment of AHS EMS incompetence and lack of transparency. One Councilor expressed how 'extremely frustrating' these delegations have been. The link to that meeting is here: https://pub-airdrie.escribemeetings.com/Players/ISIStandAlonePlayer.aspx?Id=f90ca5aa-de36-4fbd-a12e-60153a8fb764
We work hard to help by making sure Municipal Councils have the information they need, to ask good questions and get the very best EMS for their Communities. We have made a difference in some of these Communities as AHS EMS has changed deployment protocols as a result of our advocacy.
It's gotten to the point where we need your help.
AHS EMS has proven repeatedly that they cannot be trusted to tell Municipal Councils the TRUTH. The evidence in these videos and email are irrefutable. We can't possibly contact every Municipal Council and speak with them about what's happening. This issue has come up before the Rural Municipalities Association previously, more than once. Now we'd like to extend the same invitation to your organization as well.
This Government's recent and future expected changes to AHS will improve some of the issues in EMS, however we won't rest until the lack of accountability we've seen lately is corrected. It is our hope that Municipal Councils won't continue to be subjected to misleading requests for future in-camera meetings with AHS EMS. These are meetings which members of the public have every right to view.
Mayor Snodgrass set a great example for all Town Councils in Alberta when he said, "When we have a presentation from AHS EMS again, there's got to be some very, very definitive information about why we're going in camera... and if they don't want to hold it (in public) the answer is no and if you don't like the answer then don't present here."
In closing I'd just like to acknowledge the vast and difficult work you do supporting Municipalities in Alberta.
Respectfully,
Don Sharpe - Registered Paramedic
