According to a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services, the ambulance that will be added to Airdrie's fleet will be a Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance. It is slated to begin service on April 25th, 2022.

"The primary focus of this ambulance will be Inter-Facility Transfers (IFT), though it will play a dual response role for both inter-facility transfers and 911 emergency response, as needed. Adding an IFT ambulance will benefit patients in Airdrie as this will assist in keeping Airdrie ambulances available for urgent calls from local patients," stated a written statement by AHS.

AHS underlined that crews have been assigned to this unit and that the ambulance will operate 16 hours a day, Monday to Friday, (excluding statutory holidays), 07:00-15:00 [3 P.M.] and 16:00 [4 P.M.] - 00:00 [midnight]"

According to a factsheet from AHS, "BLS ambulances are staffed with Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) or Emergency Medical Responders (EMR) with a standard level of equipment to provide essential medical care for patients. They provide basic patient assessment and treatment including obtaining vital signs, administering oxygen and splinting extremities."

Whereas Advanced Life Support ambulances (ALS), "are able to respond to more complex medical situations with a staff of at least one paramedic with expanded training and scope of practice and more life-saving equipment on board. Personnel have a 2-year college diploma and are trained in all the skills of EMRs and EMTs (BLS) but also have training in treatment including advanced airway management and medication administration."

The spokesperson also explained that while ambulances may be based in one area, "[they] are not allocated for the exclusive service of that area only. Ambulances are a provincial resource that is assigned or relocated based on demand."

Steve Buick, Press Secretary to the Minister of Health, wrote that, "Adding an ambulance in Airdrie will improve response times, and the 10 new ambulances in Calgary will also help by reducing the need for ambulances to be called into Calgary from Airdrie and other communities. We’ve already seen a 40% reduction in those calls in Airdrie just in the past few weeks."

He also stated that EMS [Emergency Medical Services] staff are under strain due to the pandemic and the sharp increase in calls starting last summer.

"We’re not going to fix that overnight but the new resources will help, and we’ll stick at it until we get response times back down and make sure the system is able to respond consistently when people in Airdrie need it."

According to Buick, adding ambulances includes adding paramedics and other staff.

"AHS has added 230 paramedics in the past two years, and with a bigger budget, they’ll be able to keep hiring more staff. There will still be missed shifts and other issues because of the strain of the past two years, but overall, more ambulances and more paramedics will mean shorter response times in Airdrie and an EMS system that works better for people across the Calgary Zone."

AHS also stated that EMS has seen significant short-term success by implementing the Metro Response Plan, which is designed to assist in keeping ambulances close to their home base.

"EMS has reported a 43 per cent reduction in Airdrie ambulances coming into the City of Calgary and the early data shows this downward trend is continuing."

On March 10th, Premier Jason Kenney made the announcement that Airdrie will be receiving an ambulance next month.

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