Town officials are cautiously optimistic about a recent proposal to improve ambulance service in Erin – something for which they have been fighting for years.
“I’m very pleased it’s going in this direction,” Mayor Lou Maieron said. “I’ve got my fingers crossed.”
Shawn Armstrong, Guelph’s general manager of emergency services, recently proposed an additional ambulance in Fergus, which would be stationed daily in the Erin area from 2pm to 2am.
As part of a new deployment plan, EMS officials would try to ensure that ambulance remains in eastern Wellington County as much as possible, Armstrong told members of the county’s social services committee.
But Maieron noted a similar plan has been proposed by Armstrong in the past, only to be later rejected by Guelph council. The difference this time around is the city has already approved the equivalent of 7.5 full-time paramedics in its 2011 budget to facilitate the expansion of local ambulance service.
“We’ve had approval within the budget process,” Armstrong said in an interview on Tuesday.
He confirmed the plan is to take a spare ambulance in the fleet and have it stationed in the Erin area for 12 hours a day.
Armstrong was quick to note that while the ambulance is scheduled to be in the Erin area, there is no guarantee it will remain there – because seamless ambulance service means it can be directed to cover other areas as it is needed.
He said the move is “to address some service needs not only to Erin but also other spots in the city and county.” He said it will not be “exclusive to Erin.”
As well, the plan is for a test to see if the new ambulance service in Erin fulfills the needs of the ambulance service across the area.
Armstrong said there will be a report done in 120 days “to see the effectiveness” of such service.
He was unable to provide a date the service will begin. He said the city is in the process of hiring right now, and is “getting ready to implement” the change in service.
He did promise, though, “It will be soon.”
Maieron, a former county councillor, has fought for years to have an ambulance stationed in Erin.
Other than Puslinch, the town is the only municipality in the county that does not have an ambulance. But Puslinch is served by a station in Guelph’s south end, Maieron argued, leaving Erin as “a sore thumb sticking out in the east.”
Erin is about in the middle of the county as far as call volume is concerned, he said, and it is past time residents got something for the $400,000 a year they shell out for ambulance service.
“We’re paying more than enough for our ambulance,” Maieron said. “The Guelph one we’re paying for never shows up, because it’s too far away.”
About 75 to 80% of the ambulance calls in Erin are serviced by ambulances from Dufferin County or the Regions of Halton or Peel, the mayor added.
Maieron said the new medical centre in Erin, which was built with an ambulance bay, is the perfect spot for the part-time ambulance.
“I’m hopeful … it’s a step in the right direction,” he said of the proposal from Armstrong.
