EMS Transition
Responsibility for ground ambulance was transitioned from municipalities and organizations to Alberta Health Services (AHS) in April 2009. Provincial air ambulance transitioned to AHS in April 2010.
Transitioning Emergency Medical Services (EMS) into health provides opportunities such as standardizing medical processes, ensuring EMS practitioners are working to their full potential, improving utilization of ambulance fleet, and providing enhanced educational opportunities to all EMS staff regardless of where they live.
While the model is new in that it is provincial, the goal remains the same: to provide patient-focused, high quality care that is accessible and sustainable.
Developing a provincial EMS system is a complex task and will take many years of continued planning and implementation. While significant progress has already been made in a very short time, there are still many opportunities ahead.
The EMS Five Year Plan 2010-15 identifies these opportunities and will act as a road map of where EMS wants to be and how it will get there over the next several years. It is the culmination of more than a year’s work, with input from staff and many partner organizations and stakeholders.
As an integral part of health AND an important component of the public safety net, the provincial model of EMS now includes:
- ground ambulance
- air ambulance
- inter-facility hospital transfers
- EMS dispatch
Provincially coordinating all these resources under one umbrella helps to ensure the right medical resources are sent to the right patient at the right time.
