Alberta takes a step forward.

[tniuqs]

Well I know of at least one service that is now in dire finacial state of affairs, Slave Lake I was told by a little bird is on the "rocks" word has it that if the municiplly doesnt kick in because Liepert is not jumping up to the plate ... that there will be no paychecks for our brothers and sisters under the "Holiday tree" maybe Liepert is going to hang some mistletoe instead ?

If you follow my drift that is.

[TDP]

Poor shane heh :? Thats not good....

[WolfmanHarris]

Looks official on Slave Lake. My little bird was a link on PNN.

I hope those gals and guys get some help on pay; worst time of year to be short.

[tniuqs]

I think we should ask AK to change the title of this thread to Alberta EMS is frozen in its tracks.

[micpar]

WellI had a talk with a couple of members of that service in the bay of the RAH. As you can imagine, my talk centered around union. I was told that they were immune to the transition because they were a society... well back on the union bandwagon I go. LETS GET A PARAMEDIC UNION. Cupe has a link that can be found on the "cupe alberta" site

[a_shane2_go]

Hmmm this is odd to hear this from other sources. Legally i should be still paid (alberta labour laws, they have to go into debt, or so i'm told.) I havn't heard of any of this. The only thing i can think this deals with is with the transition in alberta we were not sure if the MD/town was going to keep funding the society until april however it was looked after(Non-profit organization) and i was told they are going to keep funding us until the planned april switch. (And now alberta has NEARLY passed a bill (3rd reading passed) (not sure which one but will fine town's/ servies that do not continue service if the province decalres them to as they need time to expand, or they will be fined 100,000$).

As for the pay i guess i'll find out tonight at midnight if i get paid or not time to bank out my OT!

[tniuqs]

Ambulance service broke; asks town for a loan to get to the end of the year

Joe McWilliams

Lakeside Leader

The Slave Lake ambulance service is “out of cash,” a joint meeting of town and M.D. councils heard on Dec. 8. As such, the service is asking the town for a loan of $197,000 to get it through to the end of the year.

The amount matches a contribution already made by the M.D. back in October.

Ambulance society chair Lorne Larson explained the situation in a subsequent interview that it is not a matter of cost overruns. Expenditures are in line with the budget.

“We experienced a downturn in call volume several months ago,” he says, “and as a result revenue goes down.”

Larson says the situation is a new one and he’s not sure why it’s happened.

“Maybe it’s simply an indication of less people working and getting hurt,” he says.

But the fact remains the service can’t meet its payroll and needs the help. Larson says funding responsibility for all ambulance services goes over to the province as of Apr. 1 of next year.

“All indications are things are going to be fine,” Larson says of the transition. “They’re increasing the base funding. Our challenge is to get from now to then.” Town council made no decision on the loan at the meeting. However, both councils requested the following: an audit of the ambulance society’s finances, an operational analysis of the ambulance service and a budget for 2009.

If the loan is granted, Larson says he hopes the ambulance society would be able to pay it back, but that depends on the revenue situation. Larson points out that of all the essential services offered in the two municipalities, ambulance is the only one that depends on the revenue it generates.

“We don’t expect the fire department or the police department to make money,” he says. “It puts the ambulance service in the position of competing,” with other activities people could be spending their money on. Or in this case, that the town and M.D. could be spending their money on.Westlock

In other ambulance news, M.D. council heard from the Westlock ambulance people at its Dec. 10 meeting. Ambulance service secretary Darrell Garceau said the Town of Westlock is preparing to be the operator of the service under contract with the provincial government as of next Apr. 1. What’s coming is a “borderless system” controlled from a central dispatch point, in which Westlock ambulances could be called into service well outside their current service boundaries. “But they say service won’t be compromised,” he said.

Nothing Garceau said indicated that the service needed extra cash to get through the end of the year. Not that there aren’t some financial challenges. He said the service carries $114,000 in uncollected debt at the moment. Then there’s the misuse of ambulance services, which ties up personnel and equipment.

“We’re often transferring people that could easily be transported by a family member,” he says. “Or a cab. It’s always been a problem and it has to be remedied.” Councillor Brian Rosche asked what will happen under the post-Apr. 1 regime if the service makes a profit. What happens to the money?

“The province hasn’t addressed that,” Garceau said. “We understand the service provider has to cover a shortfall; maybe it would be able to keep a surplus.”

The Westlock ambulance has three paramedics and is looking for a fourth. It has three ambulances - the third is in reserve and manned by volunteers. Westlock provides ambulance services to the southern end of the M.D. of Lesser Slave River.

Shane: Do you read your local newspaper ?

[a_shane2_go]

I normally do read my weekly local paper But I’ve been in Lac la Biche for 2 weeks worth of paramedic school and mid term exams and scenario testing and worked on my 2 days off so this development has been going on while I’ve been away. I just read the article before even seeing this post. So yes over exaggeration on the not getting a pay cheque thing of course: P (Which was not mentioned in the article. (I was paid last night and will continue to be.)

The simple solution to generate revenue? Get my reserve back into our service area (Yes MY actual band so I can comment on it), decrease available resources for half BS calls but generate the revenue. On the plus side we are closer then the service who is serving them now and they do of course have legitimate calls and life threatening calls.

But at this point I’m just happy I’m getting paid and the great service I work for and which we provide is not private and better for my town and MD. I will be here for some time working and providing a service to the community: D (And northern and southern Alberta, NWT, BC VIA the plane.)

http://www.lakesideleader.com/newsroom/vol...217/story1.html

And for now i am all but a pawn in Alberta's transition to provincial based ambulance service woohoo!

[HellsBells]

I'm school last week our instructor informed us that some people on the transition commitee are thinking of changing legislation so that EMRs can work with Paramedics and still charge out as an ALS service.

Yestday I ran across this quote on the Calgary Paramedics union website.

-During the month of December, Grand Prairie EMS trialed Paramedics with EMR partners, and this is reported to be a serious consideration for all services. We have our own opinion on how this would affect patient care, but no information yet on how this would affect the role of the EMT.

So, EMTs in alberta beware, your job options might be drying up in the months to come. I guess this is what the government meant when they said they will not degrade the level of service in any geograpical areas.

[HellsBells]

Is there anyone here from Grand Prairie who experienced this trial and cares to comment on it?