Alberta Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky assured rural Albertans Thursday that complaints of slow response times and other concerns with a centralized dispatch system will be fixed.
Halfway through the process to consolidate 35 dispatch centres into three based in Edmonton, Calgary and the Grimshaw-Peace River area, Zwozdesky has called a time-out to review concerns raised mostly in rural Alberta.
The decision was announced Tuesday at the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties annual conference.
The message he got was that a “one-size-fits-all system” won’t work because of Alberta’s diverse terrain and road system, he said in an interview Thursday.
“Which road do you take to get to that location in the fastest way. And this is a concern, so we’re going to address that.”
Complaints have been raised in some communities that ambulances are taking too long to arrive and dispatchers are not familiar with the area, causing delays.
Zwozdesky said central dispatchers will be able to cope with those challenges.
“The dispatch people have at their availability the best local maps possible. They have knowledgeable people who have received training in responding. They do co-ordinate and speak with other first responders.”
They will be expected to locate the best routes to a patient and be on top of road closures or other situations.
The system will also be designed to ensure that patients are taken to the most appropriate hospital in the area.
Zwozdesky said the system is mostly working well and he expects his review will not take very long. He is meeting with Alberta Health Services, which oversees ambulances, next week.
“When you’ve got 17 amalgamations that have already occurred you actually have some good basis to look at and see where things are working well and see where things aren’t working as perfectly as was first envisioned.”
One of the key advantages of the province’s new system is that the closest ambulance will be dispatched to a scene.
“Whereas under the old system they had geographical boundaries. And so we’re trying to fix that,” he said.
“What we’re trying to do with this new model is to ensure that the access to the emergency service required is provided in a very timely fashion, in a safe fashion and in an efficient fashion.”
Zwozdesky dismissed Friends of Medicare criticism that the review amounted to making health policy on the fly.
“We’re halfway through the process and some legitimate concerns were expressed. So I didn’t change any policy. All I did was say let’s look at what those concerns are.”
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com