York Region paramedics meeting response time targets

YorkRegion.com
March 3, 2014
By Sean Pearce

York Region paramedics are meeting and even exceeding response time targets set out by the Health and Long-Term Care Ministry and the region.

In a memorandum on Thursday’s regional committee of the whole agenda, commissioner of community and health services, Adelina Urbanski, provides council with an update on how paramedics fared under the standards set by the 2013 paramedic response time plan. The plan was developed in accordance with the region’s requirements under the Ambulance Act, she explained, noting that response time reliability serves as a good indicator of the level of service being delivered to the community.

York Region EMS delivers a high level of service to residents by meeting and, in some cases, surpassing, the 2013 approved response time targets, Ms Urbanski said.

For example, in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest, the ministry has mandated someone equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED), such as a firefighter, arrive on scene within six minutes, 60 per cent of the time. The standard is being met, according to the memorandum from Ms Urbanski, although it’s based on partial data from the local fire services.

Other emergencies are ranked from one to five on the Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (CTAS) with one being the most severe.

The ministry stipulates patients classified as CTAS 1 receive a response within eight minutes, 75 per cent of the time, which is what York achieved in 2013. The region’s own standards dictate that CTAS 2 patients receive paramedic attention within 10 minutes, 80 per cent of the time although this actually occurred 84 per cent of the time last year.

The region’s standards dictate that CTAS 3, 4 and 5 patients receive help within 15, 20 and 25 minutes, respectively, 90 per cent of the time. The 2013 statistics show targets for CTAS 3, 4 and 5 patients were met 97, 99 and 100 per cent of the time, respectively.

The response time performance plan results will be submitted to the ministry, as required by law, and the 2013 standards will be maintained for this year. Staff will continue to monitor the response time performance and report back in fall.