On March 12th, Ambulance New Brunswick began a 60-day initiative in Strait Shores and in two other rural communities it serves. The purpose of this trial period is to address prolonged wait times in Strait Shores, Cap Pelé, and Ford Mills. During this trial period, ambulances will no longer be deployed to neighbouring communities automatically, though they will continue to respond to outside requests for service where required.
The organization says the change was made in response to increasing call volumes, off load delays, as well as pressure on staff. ANB says goal of this initiative is to comprehensively assess the impact of the trial on patients, paramedics and the overall system and to ultimately improve response times in these three regions. Representatives from ANB met with the impacted municipalities before starting the trial.
Strait Shores’ Acting Mayor, Annamarie Boyd, says this trial is an incredible opportunity,
“Ambulance NB has said that they aim for a 22 minute response in our Rural Communities 90% of the time. It is the hope that at the end of this trial period, that they see and agree that the outcome has been positive and will implement this change of service level for our Community full time.”
The recorded response times for Strait Shores in January and February of this year met that 22 minute response time standard 50% and 46% of the time. After the trial’s completion, there will be an opportunity to measure the impact of these shifts in service focus on the community. ANB says they will continue tracking the effects on response times in Port Elgin and surrounding areas and make informed decisions, adjusting their approach as necessary based on data and performance trends.
ANB has confirmed it will meet with the affected communities, following the trial’s completion, to review the results of program.
The trial is scheduled to end in May.
