Emergency Response Times

[AmmoTech90]

See above

True, I guess they weren't pointing out an article that might be of interest, or asking for your opinion on the matter, which I guess you gave - Toronto EMS better.
A wall of text from a totally irrelevant contact was what was requested.

 

[lenaitch]

I just thought the post might be of interest. I didn't mean start a fight or compare service delivery models.

 

[mariomike]

Toronto EMS better.

If you say so.

I would say different.

As in, different Call Volumes require different service delivery models.

They get a lot of out of town applicants.

So does TFS.

I found it interesting that fire fighters with many years experience with a full-time fire department elsewhere were willing to leave to pursue their “dreams” as they put it and work for Toronto Fire. It made me feel a little bit special that I have been a part of an organization that others envy and want to be a part of as well.

Frank Ramagnano Secretary - Treasurer,Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association I.A.F.F. Local 3888

 

[kratz]

While Toronto EHS and TFS offer commendable benefits packages, the ROC can not compete, nor should they. Toronto is struggling with a budget crisis, despite having an ideal population density and defined geographical area, compared to the ROC. More than 80% of Canadian firefighters are volunteers. In an effort to control costs, more than a third of provinces have contracted out their EHS services.

 

[mariomike]

While Toronto EHS and TFS offer commendable benefits packages, the ROC can not compete, nor should they.

Municipal taxpayers, in Ontario, get what they pay for.

Readers can argue if that is fair / unfair.

In Ontario, don't know about ROC ( Rest of Canada? ) paramedic funding is a mixed formula.

A maximum of fifty percent comes from the provincial government.

Provincial funding is based upon the census population, not business day population.

Municipal taxpayers ante up the other fifty percent.

They can pay more than fifty percent, if they want a different, not necessarily better, service delivery model.

Response times and Unit Hour Utilization ( UHU ) may be included in the calculation.

https://web.archive.org/web/20080328010526/http://www.emsontario.ca/about/ems.htm

The Ministry ( Ontario Ministry of Health) continues to set standards, fully funds air ambulance, dispatch and base hospital programs, and through an approved funding template, provides a maximum of 50% of required land ambulance service funding.

 

[daftandbarmy]

This data pleases my internal management consultant

Effects of Emergency Medical Service Response Time on Survival Rate of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients: a 5-Year Retrospective Study​

A maximum response time of 8 minutes significantly enhances survival outcomes, including survival at the scene, survival to ED, and survival to hospital discharge. Furthermore, each 1-minute increase in response time is associated with a 6% reduction in the likelihood of survival to hospital discharge.

Effects of Emergency Medical Service Response Time on Survival Rate of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients: a 5-Year Retrospective Study - PMC

Emergency medical service (EMS) response time is a critical factor in managements of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) cases. This study aimed to investigate the effects of EMS response time on survival of OHCA patients. This study employed a ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[mariomike]

Readers interested in the challenges faced by Superior North EMS ( SNEMS ) - which includes their station in the Township of Nipigon, may, or may not, find their Master Plan of interest.

Their challenges are complex and significant.

The City of Thunder Bay and the surrounding District will experience a no-growth population from 2021 to 2030. However the “aging tsunami” imbedded in the existing population will drive SNEMS call volumes across the coming decade.

No growth in population, but,

An aging tsunami and growing willingness to call 9-1-1

It discusses municipal property tax, and Ability-to-pay,

The property tax funded portion of SNEMS operating costs is apportioned among the City and District municipalities based on their relative ability-to-pay. The ability-to-pay formula uses a given municipality’s percentage of taxable weighted assessment to establish that same municipality’s share of the SNEMS property tax supported budget

"Suitcase Paramedics",

Many of the District paramedics are “suitcase medics” that reside in Thunder Bay but travel to remote stations across the District for the duration of their shifts.

This results in SNEMS schedules designed to accommodate long “suitcase medic” commutes to the worksite - where paramedics living in Thunder Bay travel to a District station and reside there for 4 to 7 days depending on the particulars of the schedule.

On-Duty and On-Call for "4 to 7 days".

District schedules require paramedics to be “on-duty” for part of a given day and then “on-call” for the remainder of the day. In practical terms this means medics must reside at or near the District station to maintain after-hours response times. To address difficulties in obtaining short-term accommodationsfor suitcase medics, SNEMS has provided space in District stations to serve as bedrooms, or where space does not allow, has rented or purchased off-site accommodations for paramedics to use. The quality of these accommodations has an impact of willingness of staff to work in particular District station locations (see District Station functional assessments in this plan).

The overnight accommodations required for SNEMS suitcase medics that are provided on-site are for the most part “bare bones”, making adaptive reuse of previous offices to meet fire regulations. One District station has no washroom in the sleeping trailer used. Three stations feature off-site owned/rental accommodations. Only one of these housing sites has separate washroom facilities.

The property tax base experiencing no significant growth in taxable assessment cannot absorb the budget impacts generated by the annual 5-6 percent call volume increases featured in the base case demand forecast.

Taxpayers cannot afford to add a $500,000 12-hour ambulance crew every second year with no end in sight.