Two new police officers, six fire-medics and a dispatcher will be starting work in Red Deer in 2024.
Protective Services general manager Ken McMullen told council during budget talks on Wednesday that working extra hours is taking a big toll on the mental and physical health of EMS workers.
With the additional fire-medics coming on board this year, the $1.5 million in overtime expenses for Red Deer Emergency Services in the revised 2024 city budget should be “absolutely reduced,” said McMullen.
City council had approved the hiring of six fire-medics and one dispatcher in each of 2023 and 2024 when both budgets were originally passed together at the end of 2022
But because of a delay in recruiting and training, the first contingent of additional EMS workers couldn’t start work until last November, said McMullen.
This added to the $1.5 million in overtime expenses that are now part of the $16.1 million shortfall that council is working to cover in the revised 2024 budget. It had to be altered due to unexpectedly high inflation and lower than anticipated city revenues.
McMullen hopes to get the seven new staffers for this year working earlier in 2024 through new hiring strategies.
He told council most of the $1.5 million in overtime for fire-medics can be traced to long lineups for patient transfers at hospitals and inter-facility transfers.
The two new RCMP officers and half-time peace officer that will come on board this year are linked to Red Deer’s recent land annexation from Red Deer County.
With more of Hwy 2 and area west of the highway to patrol, more policing staff is needed, said Bart Rowland, municipal policing services manager.
He told council the total cost per RCMP officer is about $214,000, including salary, equipment, health benefits, vehicle, etc. About 10 per cent of this is covered by the federal government.
Meanwhile Coun. Kraymer Barnstable questioned why Red Deer has photo radar since costs to maintain this system were twice as high as revenues obtained from it.
Rowland said it was a past council’s decision to bring photo radar into the city. He personally believes having an officer patrolling traffic makes more sense, since distracted or dangerous drivers could then also be caught, along with speeders.
“We are currently doing a review” and will make a presentation to council on the viability of photo radar sometime before 2025, he added.
A $1.2 million shortfall in dispatch revenue for the City of Red Deer in 2024 was created by a provincial decision to pull ambulance dispatching from the city in 2022 and go to a centralized model.
McMullen said his department, which still provides fire dispatching services, is trying to find additional revenue, such as signing a small 911 dispatch contract with another community this year.
He added the push continues to get the province to return ambulance dispatching to the city. Finances aside, McMullen maintains that having the same dispatchers for fire and ambulance is by far the best system for a city with cross-trained fire-medics.
Since the rural municipality of Wood Buffalo recently had its integrated dispatch system restored by the province, McMullen told council he’s feeling more positive that Red Deer could also see a reversal.
