KENNETCOOK: Rural ambulance service is going to continue experiencing more and more shortfalls as the strain on emergency services at the QEII hospital in Halifax continue.

Bud Sanford, operations supervisor with Emergency Health Services (EHS), spoke during the Jan. 19, Municipality of East Hants executive committee of council meeting after councillors requested to have someone from EHS into answer questions on rural emergency services.

Sanford says some of the shortages trickle down, affecting rural communities.

“Since the strain of the health care system has (increased), it seems to have worked its way down to us,” he said. “The strain on the system initially didn’t impact us at all, and now it seems to be affecting us quite a bit.”

Explaining that at any given time, there could be between 10 to 14 ambulances waiting to unload patients at the QEII, that has a drastic impact on ambulances available in the Truro and Milford District, which all of East Hants, excluding Mount Uniacke, is a part of.

“There are only 10 units in Halifax, so if there are 14 at the QEII, you know a couple of them are ours,” he said. “If a couple of them are ours, that means there is less coverage.”

Ambulance service is provided on a priority post system, meaning an ambulance will be called to cover another called out of a busier posting.

Because of this, the base in Kennetcook has been noticeably empty.

“We were trying our very best to keep that unit in Kennetcook, but I must admit, with the backlogs, its next to impossible,” said Sanford. “We do get out there, but we don’t get there anywhere near to what we got out there in the past.”

Councillor Eleanor Roulston, who represents Rawdon, brought up her concerns about rural ambulance services in the fall of 2009. She says for people in the rural areas of the municipality, needed emergency help is a scary issue to think of for many.

“The folks in the rural area, just because we live out in the country their lives are no less valuable, people are no less ill, we need this no less,” she said. “Currently, under this situation, the community’s needs are not being adequately met.”

All communities in East Hants are considered category three, meaning a response can take no longer than 30 minutes, 90 per cent of the time. Councillor Wayne Green, also representing a rural district, Noel, says he’s fearful that standard can’t be met.

“I’m from one of those outlying areas that it takes 35 to 40 minutes before we see (an ambulance),” he said.

Roulston agrees 30 minutes is more than likely a stretch.

“I would suspect that in 30 minutes, they’re pushing it to get from Milford to some of those areas on a good day, you take slippery roads, it’s just not physically possible to do that,” she said.

She wants to see services improve.

“At some point in time the rural folk have to draw a line in the sand and demand a level of service, this minimal level of service being provided is not enough,” she said. “I think there has to be a change in the system, there has to be a minimum level of service created. I know they are doing the best they can with what they have to work with, but I just think that it hasn’t kept pace with the need.”

Hants East NDP MLA and Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, John MacDonell, says it’s a concern his government is aware of, and is working to address.

“Nova Scotia is actually regarded as having one of the best EHS systems,” he said. “However, the issue for them is that we don’t have the best emergency services. We are essentially using our ambulance service as our emergency room and that causes a lot of back log.”

He says it is a problem that is currently being reviewed.

“We have hired a specialist to analyze emergency room care,” he said. “We are expecting a report. It’s not a quick fix and we recognize it is an issue.”

Sanford says the review couldn’t come quickly enough.

“The QEII is a killer for us, but over the last month or so, Colchester (Regional Hospital) has started to back up as well,” he said. “The health care service is starting to back up right around the province, unfortunately.”

And because of this, Roulston is disappointed it’s the rural areas of the province, such as the often empty depot in Kennetcook, that have to suffer.

“The system as it is now, it doesn’t work,” she said. “It’s very hard to say, but people may die because of this. It’s a possibility.”

acameron@enfieldweeklypress.com