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The head of Brandon’s firefighter/paramedics union says a new patient transfer service — intended to take pressure off of rural ambulance crews and allow them to remain in their communities for emergency calls — is a good move.

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The head of Brandon’s firefighter/paramedics union says a new patient transfer service — intended to take pressure off of rural ambulance crews and allow them to remain in their communities for emergency calls — is a good move.

“I think that the service that they’re adding, as far as non-emergency transfers, will definitely be a benefit, is definitely a step in the right direction,” said Brandon Firefighter/Paramedics Local 803 president Terry Browett.

The Manitoba government announced Friday afternoon it will invest in a dedicated service to transport low-acuity patients as a way to improve access to health care for rural Manitobans.

Non-emergency, low-acuity patients are those that don’t require ongoing clinical care or support during transport; a personal care home resident being taken to hospital for an X-ray, for example. Browett said Brandon firefighter/paramedics would still have to handle transports for clients who require drugs.

Shared Health said it has issued a request for one or more “successful proponents” to transport hospital inpatients and personal care home residents from the Brandon, Selkirk and Winkler/Morden areas to medical appointments, diagnostic tests and treatment.

In the press release, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said the transport service will take pressure off of paramedics, allowing them to remain in their communities for emergency calls.

Ambulance services outside of Winnipeg have historically been used to complete all interfacility transports, the province stated, primarily because patients and clients often need the benefit and comfort of being transported on a stretcher.

“The transport of low-acuity inpatients to and from health-care facilities can be a prolonged process that takes ambulances in rural Manitoba out of service for hours,” Gordon was quoted as saying in the release.

Each base will serve a wide area within each health region, and the service will include trips to Winnipeg for care. The province said it intends to expand service to other communities at some point.

The rural service will be similar to one that has run in Winnipeg for several years. Low-acuity transport was recently piloted in a few communities and will now be formally established with base locations in Brandon, Selkirk and the Winkler/Morden area, the province said.

However, while Browett said the new service will help, more needs to be done to address rising calls for service that are putting a strain on the city’s ambulance service. It appears Brandon was one of the sites for the pilot project, as Browett said a low-acuity transport service had already been in place here for a number of months. However, periods when there are no ambulances are available in the city are growing.

There are already times when the city’s two ambulances available for emergency calls aren’t available because they are already busy, whether it’s due to emergencies or transports, and rural ambulances are needed to back up Brandon’s service.

The situation is getting worse, Browett said: “We are being stretched further and further, and there are longer periods where we have no ambulances available.”

According to figures provided by Browett, calls for ambulance service have steadily risen each year since 2018. For January through July of this year, there were 4,801, compared to 3,498 for the same period in 2018.

Browett suggests any revenue generated by Brandon’s EMS service should be redeployed to support a third primary ambulance to serve the city.

Friday’s announcement also didn’t directly address concerns raised earlier this year by the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals when it sounded the alarm over increased periods where ambulances weren’t available to help rural Manitobans.

The association pointed to paramedics burning out due to overtime and staffing shortages as it urged the Manitoba government to commit to a tangible recruitment and retention plan for rural paramedics.