In late June, the provincial government stated that since November 2022, there have been significant improvements in several key areas of healthcare.

According to the province, the appointment of the official administrator of Alberta Health Services, (AHS) Dr. John Cowell was meant to spur tangible results within the Health Care Action Plan. The province's newly appointed Minister of Health, Adriana LaGrange said that she was pleased by the progress made under Dr. Cowell’s leadership in the immediate areas of action he was tasked with.

The Health Care Action Plan is meant to focus on improving EMS response times, decreasing emergency room wait times, reducing surgical wait times and empowering healthcare workers to deliver health care. Data provided by the province highlighted:

  • A 17 per cent decrease in wait times at emergency departments.
  • A drop of almost half in EMS response times for the most urgent calls in metro and urban areas (to 12 minutes).
  • Fewer patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for surgeries.
  • The addition of more nurses, paramedics and other front-line staff.

Airdrie ambulance response times for Delta & Echo events only

According to documents obtained from Alberta Health Services (AHS) via The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the FOIP Act), the average response time for Airdrie ambulances responding to the most urgent 9-1-1 calls within the city (Delta and Echo only) in November 2022, was just under 11 minutes.

Between November 2022 and April 2023, there was little deviation from this, as the average response times for the five months hovered at just under 10 minutes. However, when looking at the longest response times, March 2023 logged the longest response, with just over an hour for an ambulance to respond to an urgent call. The average response times from these statistics do not include Alpha, Bravo, or Charlie 9-1-1 events. 

If one were to compare November 2021 to April 2022, the average response times remained nearly unchanged in comparison to 2022-23, however, call volume in 2022-23 was significantly higher. Between November 2022 and April 2023, Airdrie ambulances responded to 1506 urgent emergency events in the city, while the 2021-22 timeframe shows 550 events. 

However, it should be noted that according to data provided through FOIP, represents the unit response interval for units stationed in Airdrie responding to an event in Airdrie.

"This does not represent the response interval for events in the City of Airdrie nor does it represent the response interval for the events the Airdrie units responded to as there may have been non-Airdrie units that arrived on scene earlier," AHS stated.

Airdrie ambulance response times in Calgary

In November 2022, the average response time for an Airdrie ambulance to respond to a Delta emergency in Calgary was averaging a little over 28 minutes. By April 2023, the average was approximately 24 minutes. However, one of the longest response times recorded for a delta event was also in November 2022, nearing two hours. This was one of the longest response times recorded since 2020. The longest response time in April 2023 was nearing 97 minutes. 

9-1-1 Echo events in Calgary also saw some of their longest average response times in several years. In February 2023, an Airdrie ambulance would take almost 20 minutes to respond to an Echo event in Calgary, nearly doubling its time from the previous month. April 2023 saw an average response time of just over 11 minutes - approximately one minute less than the average response time for Airdrie ambulances responding to Echo events within the city of Airdrie. 

However, when looking at the longest response time an Airdrie ambulance took to respond to a Calgary emergency event, October 2022 logged over five hours for a response time for a Bravo emergency. 

According to the data provided, Airdrie ambulances did not average a 12-minute response to a Delta event between November 2022 and April 2023. The last time an Airdrie ambulance was clocked at around 12 minutes for an average response, was in January 2022. For Echo events, Airdrie ambulances had three instances of responding to those urgent calls in under 12 minutes as their average.

AHS does note that the data given represents the unit response interval for units stationed in Airdrie responding to an event in Calgary. It does not represent the response interval for events in the City of Calgary nor does it represent the response interval for the events the Airdrie units responded to as there may have been non-Airdrie units that arrived on the scene earlier. Airdrie units may or may not have been in Airdrie when responding to an event in Calgary.

Calgary ambulance response times in Airdrie

Calgary ambulances responding to Airdrie averaged just over 20 minutes to respond to a delta call in Airdrie in November 2022. By April 2023, the average response time was 15 minutes. 

However, when comparing the longest response time for an Airdrie ambulance to respond to a Delta call within the city, compared to the longest response time for a Calgary ambulance to respond to a Delta call during the same month, Calgary's longest response time was several minutes shorter. Airdrie's longest response time was just over 41 minutes, while Calgary's was just over 35 minutes. 

Data provided shows that Calgary ambulances, between November 2022 and April 2023, did not respond to an Airdrie Delta or Echo event within a 12-minute timeframe. The shortest average Calgary ambulance response time to an Echo event was just over 27 minutes in January 2023. 

Emergency wait times

On July 5, the Alberta NDP released a statement in response to the government's claim on shorter ER wait times. David Shepherd, Alberta NDP Critic for Health (Primary and Rural Care), stated that urban emergency departments, like the Peter Lougheed Hospital in Calgary, continue to have wait times of up to 13 hours. 

According to AHS's website, as of Monday, July 10, the wait time at Airdrie Urgent Care Centre was a little over four hours, while wait times at the Alberta Children's Hospital were three hours and 20 minutes. The Peter Lougheed Center's wait time was the longest in the area - with an estimated eight-hour wait time.

When looking at archived internet data from AHS, in March 2023, the wait time in Airdrie Urgent Care Centre was a little over four hours, while Alberta Children's Hospital was listed with a wait time of three hours and 20 minutes. The Peter Lougheed Center's wait time was again the longest, clocking in at eight hours. 

Going back to September 2022, the wait time in Airdrie Urgent Care Centre was a little over four hours, while Alberta Children's Hospital was listed with a wait time of three hours and 25 minutes. The Peter Lougheed Center's wait time was again the longest, clocking in at eight hours and 10 minutes. 

A shared response program between 811 and EMS announced

In February 2023, it was announced that the province would be launching a new EMS-811 Shared Response team which, according to the government, was meant to help reduce ambulance response times in the province and ensure Albertans get the care they need when and where they need it.

In February, provincial data cited that non-urgent calls account for about 10 to 20 per cent of total 9-1-1 call volume, depending on the area, and with this new program, the province foresees that about 40,000 non-emergency responses could be avoided each year. 

FOIP documents show that from January to April 2023, 24 9-1-1 events from Airdrie have been diverted via the new system, while 923 9-1-1 events in Calgary have also been diverted.

Opioids

In recent months, the Calgary zone (which includes Airdrie) has seen a spike in opioid-related EMS calls, as well as death associated with opioid poisoning. In March 2023, the Calgary zone listed 59 drug poisoning deaths and that number increased to 76 in April 2023. In the entire province, there were 1,180 hospitalizations associated with opioid poisoning in the first quarter of 2023, while there were 3,554 emergency department visits.

FOIP documents from March 2023, show that in Airdrie, there were a total of 13 events in 2021 that Airdrie ambulances were called to within the city, to deal with an opioid emergency. The majority of those calls were Delta events. By 2022, that number was 19 9-1-1 opioid-related events. 

On Friday, July 7, the Canadian Medical Association underlined that the premiers’ annual meeting is a critical opportunity for timely, tangible action. 

“What we now need is the ongoing political will to make brave decisions. We owe it to patients and health professionals to leverage this moment in time to expand access, support our workforce and drive lasting improvements," said CMA President Dr. Alika Lafontaine

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