Alberta Health Services (AHS) is hitting back at complaints over ambulance service in St. Albert with a raft of statistics that have never before been publicly released.
In response to two Gazette stories and a follow-up editorial outlining concerns about the use of the city’s third peak-hour ambulance, growing response times and the increased frequency of code reds, AHS sent a letter to the editor late last week detailing ambulance coverage in St. Albert.
According to the letter, the median response time of seven minutes holds true and the response times are improving. Although Alberta Minister of Health and Wellness Fred Horne said 90 per cent of calls were responded to in 15 minutes, the letter states that number has dropped to 13 minutes.
The letter also states that St. Albert’s peak-hour ambulance — which operates out of the Sturgeon Community Hospital from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. — is in use 37.6 per cent of that time, compared to the city’s two around-the-clock units, which are in use 35.1 per cent and 32.2 per cent during their 24-hour shifts respectively.
AHS also maintains that one or more units are available 92 per cent of the time. An AHS spokesperson said the data to arrive at that conclusion is broken down to the second and encompasses a time period from Sept. 15, 2011 to Jan. 29, 2012.
But exactly what statistics are most relevant is a matter of debate. Chris Mazurkewich, AHS executive vice president and chief operating officer said the median response time is the most important indicator of good service.
“I think its going well and the ambulance crews are delivering excellent service,” he said.
But St. Albert Fire Services chief Ray Richards said the 90-per-cent statistic is the industry standard. Before AHS took over ambulance service in 2009, St. Albert ambulances typically met their benchmark of responding to 90 per cent of calls within nine minutes. Richards and Mayor Nolan Crouse want that data for each of the three St. Albert ambulances.
“The 90th percentile information would be better than the median,” Richards said. “We typically don’t use that data. That’s not how the industry looks at it.”
“It comes across like they are cherry picking an approach to get a different result,” Crouse said.
Both Richards and Crouse were surprised to see AHS release the statistics, saying such information is typically kept confidential.
“This is the first time they’ve gone public,” Richards said. “We’ve had data presented to the city on a few different occasions. This is the closest to the public release of information that we have seen.”
But Crouse still wants to see more. In a letter being drafted for Horne, the mayor has asked for information on the number of St. Albertans the city’s ambulances are responding to.
The Gazette has learned of more information that paints a different picture than the one the statistics show. Specifically, sources say the length of time during which there are no ambulances available is growing both in frequency and duration. As of the end of last month, St. Albert had declared 48 code reds, meaning all ambulances were in service. While AHS says other units are flexed in from Edmonton in such situations, the Gazette has learned of occasions in which the city has been without ambulance coverage for as long as three hours.
Richards said he is aware of the coverage gaps, something he noted never happened when St. Albert ran its own five-ambulance service prior to 2009.
“It’s only happened since that time,” said Richards. “It’s concerning to patient safety for the citizens of St. Albert.”
The city’s contract to provide service for AHS is up for renewal at the end of March. Crouse is hoping the city will receive a third, St. Albert-based, round-the-clock ambulance but doesn’t know what to expect.
“We’ll see. That’s what we’ve asked for.”
