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Friday, December 10, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Region promises cash transfusion for ambulance service Bv Irene G entle SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Injecting the recently downloaded ambulance ser vice with more cash could save lives, Regional Council decid ed Wednesday. It voted to beef up the ser vice through additional ambu lances, higher trained staff and improved equipment. A report providing an implementation plan and firm figures for the proposed enhancements is due out in February, 2000. Halton's Ambulance ser vice has not been pumped up since 1985, though its call vol ume has doubled since that time. But downloading has allowed the Region to rescue the sagging system, said Burlington Councillor John Taylor. "We have a tremendous opportunity here today to enhance the ambulance ser vice," he said. "You can't dou ble the amount of calls with the same resources and have the same results." One way to improve the system is to increase the num ber of Advanced Life Support paramedics, which receive extra life-saving training, to 65% of the labour force. Another is to add more ambulances. Today, a dearth of vehicles contribute to decreased response times in the region, said Halton's land ambulance director Jim King. He pointed that only one of Halton's six ambulance sta tions has not fallen behind its 19% response time. And even the speediest response time in Halton lags behind the unofficial North American standard of 8:59 minutes. Response times illustrate when an ambulance arrives on the scene 90% of the time. According to recent studies, getting a defibrillator -- or heart paddle -- to the scene within eight minutes helps save the lives of cardiac patients. And that is borne out in Burlington, where the percent age of lives saved jumped from 2.9% to 6.8% since defibrilla tors came on to the scene, said King. Halton's fastest station, Burlington West, had a response time of 9:35 minutes. Halton's slowest response time was in Milton, with ambulances here limping to the scene in 14.20 minutes 90% of the time. "Right now we have a 14 minute response time in Milton, but you're dead in 10," said Milton Councillor Rick Malboeuf. "If you're a witness to a cardiac arrest in Milton, the best thing you can do is bend them over so they can kiss their butt good-bye." In 1999, ambulance service cost $5,310,200, which is split 50-50 between the Region and the Province. But enhancements such as increased staffing, upgrading to ALS status and new stations would add approximately $2,646,000 to that tab. Additional one-time expen ditures for equipment, includ ing defibrillators, would plump that up by another $1,626,000. That cost would be spread over two or three years. But all those improvements would only add another $12 to the ambulance portion of the average taxpayers bill (based on the owner of a $185,000 home), Council learned. Currently, Halton residents pay $15.66 for ambulance ser vices. That can be contrasted to $279 for police services, said Taylor. . "It's only $ 12 to significant ly improve the safety of the community and I think it's worth every cent," he added. But bringing more ambu lances into the region will cover more ground, helping response times, said King. Holiday Super Specials A coustic Guitar Packages from $ 199. 0 0 (In c lu d e s case, strap , strings, p ick s) Param edicscheeram bulancetakeover R i/ I r p n p SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER That loud noise heard Wednesday night was probably the sound of close to 200 area paramedics cheering. The celebration was the result of a decision made by Regional Council to take the recently downloaded ambu lance services in-house. They also approved, at least in theo ry, a series of enhancements to beef up the service. Both decisions were arrived at after a grueling nine-hour meeting. A regionally-m anaged service N which would make paramedics region al employees, had been the long-time desire of most paramedics. Contracting the service out to a for profit company, as was the original plan, didn't provide adequate job stabil ity, it was stated at a series of meetings earlier in the year. "Morale is below the floor," said Gord Armes, president of the Local 207 o f the Ontario Public Service Employees Union representing Halton paramedics before the decision came through. But that all changed when the region's reversed its previous stand at approximately 6 p.m. "I'm delighted. I'm going to cele brate all night now," said Armes. "Morale will be sky high as soon as I make a phone call'." When the tough decisions first had to be made, regional council opted to begin contract negotiations with the current ambulance suppliers. 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