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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFD-10-92 REPORT #3 THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE REPORT Meeting: COUNCIL File # Date: NOVEMBER 9, 1992 . Res. # By-Law# Report#: FD-10-92 File #: 10J2 . 6 Subject: AMBULANCE ASSIST CALLS Recommendations: 1. ) THAT Report FD-10-92 be received; 2 . ) THAT Section 1 of Attachment #1 to Report FD-10-92 be amended to add the following: "or unless a part-time fire crew can reach the scene of the emergency within a shorter period of time" ; 3. ) THAT Section 2 of Attachment #1 to Report FD-10-92 be amended to add the following: "or unless a part-time fire crew can reach the scene of the emergency within a shorter period of time in circumstances whereby the Town is absolutely required to respond" ; 4 . ) THAT a meeting be arranged with the ambulance dispatch to reaffirm Council's concerns with the use of the fire department to assist the ambulance; and 5 . ) THAT Mr. Michael Stockwell, Manager of the Oshawa Ambulance Dispatch be forwarded a copy of Report FD-10-92 and be advised of Council 's decision. BACKGROUND 1. 1 At its meeting of October 13, 1992, Council passed the resolution provided as Attachment #1. The resolution attempted to identify the specific circumstances under which the fire department would provide assistance to the ambulance service both during the 6 :00 a.m. - 6 :00 p.m. period and between the 6:00 p.m. and 6 :00 a.m. period. 1.2 This policy was put in place in an attempt to reduce the frequency of the ambulance service calling the fire department unnecessarily. This situation has been reduced but has not been eliminated. Continued. . . . . FD-10-92 - 2 - 1.3 It should be noted that the issue of unnecessary calls is a concern throughout the Region. The Durham Regional Fire Chiefs have formed a committee, in an attempt to formulate specific criteria for ambulance assist response by fire departments . In general it would appear that there is some concensus that fire departments should provide assistance in life threatening situations such as absence of breathing, unconsciousness, severe bleeding, motor vehicle accident with ambulance responding and real or apprehended heart attack, where no ambulance is available or where additional assistance is necessary. COMMENTS 2 . 1 At the General Purpose and Administration Committee meeting of November 2, 1992, members of Committee raised the issue of concerns received from both the part-time firefighters and the public, with regard to the Town's policy on dealing with ambulance assist calls . 2 .2 The question was raised as to the frequency of calls and how often the fire department arrives at the scene, prior' to the ambulance. A review of the responses to which ambulance dispatch called the fire department was conducted, with the following results . 2 .3 Between January 1, 1992 and October 27, 1992 the ambulance requested assistance from the fire department on 101 occasions . The part-time firefighters were called to assist on 39 of these calls and arrived on the scene, prior to the ambulance, 17 times or 43% of the calls . The cost to the Town for these 39 calls was $15, 162 .22 . This amount represents approximately 5% of the salary expenditures, to-date, for part-time firefighters and is 5. 1% of the department's calls for 1992, to-date. 2 .4 The question was also raised as to whether or not there was a reduction of service to the rural areas, due to the new policy. As can be appreciated, there will be no reduction for any calls received between 6:00 a.m. and 6 :00 p.m. daily in Bowmanville and Courtice, where full time staff are stationed. As for the rural, areas, with the full time handling all assist calls from 6 :00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily there will be a delay, since the firefighters will be responding from Bowmanville or Courtice, whereas after 6:00 p.m. response will be from the nearest station to the incident. Continued. . . . FD-10-92 - 3 - 2 .5 The part-time firefighters prepared a letter, refer to Attachment 2, which is presently being circulated to all firefighters for their signature. At the time this report was prepared the signed copies were not available, but can be forwarded to Council upon receipt. It is anticipated that the letters will be signed by every member of the department, when circulation is completed. RECOMMENDATIONS 3. 1 In light of the concerns raised with regard to Council 's resolution of October 13, 1992, it is respectfully recommended that consideration be given to amending the policy to allow for the nearest station to be dispatched to assist ambulance, if required, no matter the time of day. 3 .2 Also, the criteria for firefighters being dispatched to assist the ambulance be as follows: a. ) no ambulance is available b. ) that it has been determined that our assistance is definitely required; or c . ) when it is determined that fire department personnel can be on the scene before the ambulance and able to provide needed medical assistance; 3 . 3 It should be emphasized that notwithstanding that the policy, as amended, would provide a reasonable service regarding ambulance assist calls, the fire department will continue to work with the ambulance dispatch in an effort to reduce further and ultimately eliminate, where possible, any unnecessary calls. Respectfully submitted, Approved for presentation to Council Michael G. Creight6n, AMCT(A) ,CMM I Lawrence E. Kot,se f, Fire Chief. Chief Administ at�ive Officer MC/s r (di Encl. November 4, 1992 . ATTACHMENT 1 RESOLUTION # MOVED BY: SECONDED BY WHEREAS the matter of ambulance assist calls in the Town has resulted in many unnecessary requirements on the Town's Fire Department; WHEREAS the ambulance service appears to be using the services of the Town's Fire Department in order to off-set short falls in its capability to provide a satisfactory service; WHEREAS the impact of such call outs has resulted in significant and unnecessary costs to the Town's taxpayers; and WHEREAS recent indications are that the ambulance service will be cutting back on its level of service: NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE: 1) THAT in situations whereby the Town is absolutely required to respond to an ambulance assist emergency call during the 6 a.m. - 6 p.m period, only the full-time firefighting crew from either the Bowmanville or Courtice station will respond; 2) THAT no assistance to the ambulance service will be provided by the Town's Fire Department outside of the period indicated in recommendation #1 above except for automobile accidents or in circumstances where the ambulance service is elsewhere in use dealing with an emergency; and 3) THAT the ambulance service dispatch system be requested to revise its procedures to reflect the above. ATTACHMENT 2 1992 October 26 CC: Diane Hamre, Mayor Ken Hooper, Councillor Larry Kotseff, Chief Administrator Officer Mike Creighton, Fire Chief To: The Town of Newcastle Committee: On October 13, 1992, the members of this current Newcastle Council passed a resolution restricting NFD's response to medical emergencies within the Town of Newcastle. We, the Part-time Firefighters, wish to bring our objections and concerns regarding this resolution to your attention. Ambulance service within the Town of Newcastle is provided by the Whitby-Bowmanville Ambulance Service from Bowmanville with one 24 hour vehicle and one additional vehicle for 12 hours per day, weekdays only. The Courtice area receives it ambulance service from Oshawa. If the Bowmanville ambulance is out on a call, an Oshawa ambulance will proceed to Courtice to provide coverage for the entire Town of Newcastle. Between the two ambulance services, approximately 3500 calls are done yearly within the Town of Newcastle. In 1991, the NFD was requested to provide first response to medical emergencies less than 100 times. Our general impression is that council's sole concern in this matter is monetary. Our concerns are anything but monetary!! It could easily take an ambulance, responding from Courtice or Oshawa, 15 to 20 minutes to respond to areas in north and east Newcastle. In the event of someon:- suffering cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest or bleeding profusely, time is of the essence. After 4-6 minutes of not breathing, brain damage begins. After 10 minutes, brain death occurs. This same time also allows for life threatening blood loss to occur. Newcastle Firefighters are all trained in Basic Life Support Measures that could assist people in these cases. We also carry oxygen that is often very beneficial to people suffering chest pains and strokes. With this in mind, it seems ludicrous to deny the citizens of certain parts of Newcastle timely assistance from the fire department. We feel that this resolution has also implied that a class system exists within this town. During the daytime, the people of Courtice and Bowmanville will not be affected in any way by this resolution, yet all other areas of the town are. Is a life in Bowmanville or Courtice more precious than elsewhere? Why are some taxpayers getting inferior service for the same tax money? Although the Council's concern seems to be monetary, we feel if they were to study this, it would become evident that fire service is provided at a cheaper cost than any other area in south Durham on a per call and cost for manpower basis. As firefighters and citizens of this town with family members young and old,we urge Council to reconsider this resolution before a life is lost and this fire department's reputation suffers irreparably. Please remember the 911 System's motto that you committed to at its inception" - "WHEN SECONDS COUNT".