View From the Legislature

For many decades, the role of paramedics was defined by how quickly they could reach a patient, load them into the back of an ambulance, and get them to a hospital. Today, as the result of increased training and professional development, it is understood that the care that a person receives after calling 911 begins when a paramedic arrives at the scene of an accident or to the person’s home.

While this is important in all parts of Manitoba, it is particularly important in rural Manitoba, where the distance between health facilities and residents is often greater than in larger cities. In these rural communities, paramedics are really the backbone of the healthcare system.

For many rural Manitoba communities, the paramedic system has relied on part-time or on-call responders. An ambulance would be parked in a garage and a volunteer would answer a call, rush to the ambulance and then to the location of the 911 call. These on-call paramedics are important community contributors. However, in recent years staffing some of these on-call stations has been challenging and response times are also jeopardized as a result.

As a result of these and other challenges, a 2013 report was commissioned on the state of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Manitoba. The report was authored by Reg Toews and it concluded, among other things, that there needed to be more full-time paramedics that worked out of centralized regional stations.

This was important for two reasons. The increased number of full-time paramedics would make the EMS more predictable and less reliant on the on-call system. It would ensure that response times met the targets that have been set and would reduce paramedic fatigue. The centralization of paramedic stations was a recognition of how paramedic service is delivered in rural Manitoba. No longer do paramedics generally wait in a station for a 911 call. Through what is known as active deployment, they and their ambulance are located in a place that past data indicates is the region they are most likely to receive a call from. And when they are called out, another ambulance moves over into that region for call coverage. This active deployment works to reduce response times.

As a result of this report, our government has been investing in the hiring of new full-time paramedics. Most recently in the 2018-2019 budget, funding has been allocated for the hiring of 60 new paramedics. These paramedics will be hired and placed based on the evidence of call volume and will help reduce response times. Through building a better EMS system, we are again following evidence and ensuring that our healthcare system is responsive and sustainable.