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The City of Winnipeg is going to charge the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority $113 per hour if ambulance crews are kept waiting at a hospital for more than 90 minutes after arriving with a patient.
"These are finite resources," Jim Brennan, chief of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, said Friday about his ambulance fleet. "When they are completely occupied at the hospital, as they often are, we are at risk on the street with our 911 system."
Officials explained that when an ambulance arrives at an emergency room, the paramedics must stay with their patient until the person has been seen by a doctor. If there are other people in the emergency room with more urgent medical needs, it can take a long time before the EMS crew is able to get back on the road.
Brennan explained that crews have an obligation to stay with their patient until care can be transferred to another health professional.
In 2010, ambulance crews were held at a hospital for an average of 61 minutes per call, officials explained, noting that is 31 minutes longer than they want.
Brennan said there were some extreme examples of a paramedic crew waiting eight hours with a patient.
The long wait time, Brennan said, means that about one third of the ambulance fleet can be unavailable to respond to an emergency call at any given time.
The health authority said it understands the issue and has been making changes to improve the situation.
For example, a nurse can now assess a patient arriving by ambulance and determine if it is medically safe for the person to wait without the EMS crew sticking around. If so, the patient will be set up in the waiting room and the ambulance can get back on the road.
The idea of charging the health authority for long wait times was borrowed from B.C., Brennan said, adding the goal is to reduce the turn-around time, not to make money.
"It got the attention of the people who work in the hospital," he said of the B.C. example.
A spokeswoman with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said they will continue to work with the paramedic service to address the wait time problem.
"It is going to cost our health care system," Heidi Graham said about the new charges. "We would rather that not happen. But it is one of those things that we need to work to meet our 30 minute target."
In 2010, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service attended to 70,012 emergency medical service calls.
The billing for excess time will kick-in when 90 minutes have passed. The threshold will drop to 60 minutes in October and 30 minutes in April of 2012.
"These are finite resources," Jim Brennan, chief of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, said Friday about his ambulance fleet. "When they are completely occupied at the hospital, as they often are, we are at risk on the street with our 911 system."
Officials explained that when an ambulance arrives at an emergency room, the paramedics must stay with their patient until the person has been seen by a doctor. If there are other people in the emergency room with more urgent medical needs, it can take a long time before the EMS crew is able to get back on the road.
Brennan explained that crews have an obligation to stay with their patient until care can be transferred to another health professional.
In 2010, ambulance crews were held at a hospital for an average of 61 minutes per call, officials explained, noting that is 31 minutes longer than they want.
Brennan said there were some extreme examples of a paramedic crew waiting eight hours with a patient.
The long wait time, Brennan said, means that about one third of the ambulance fleet can be unavailable to respond to an emergency call at any given time.
The health authority said it understands the issue and has been making changes to improve the situation.
For example, a nurse can now assess a patient arriving by ambulance and determine if it is medically safe for the person to wait without the EMS crew sticking around. If so, the patient will be set up in the waiting room and the ambulance can get back on the road.
The idea of charging the health authority for long wait times was borrowed from B.C., Brennan said, adding the goal is to reduce the turn-around time, not to make money.
"It got the attention of the people who work in the hospital," he said of the B.C. example.
A spokeswoman with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said they will continue to work with the paramedic service to address the wait time problem.
"It is going to cost our health care system," Heidi Graham said about the new charges. "We would rather that not happen. But it is one of those things that we need to work to meet our 30 minute target."
In 2010, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service attended to 70,012 emergency medical service calls.
The billing for excess time will kick-in when 90 minutes have passed. The threshold will drop to 60 minutes in October and 30 minutes in April of 2012.