Municipal leaders, paramedics and fire chiefs in New Brunswick say they want to see systemic changes to the province’s paramedic system.
The calls come from the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick, the Paramedic Association of New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Association of Fire Chiefs.
It comes as the provincial ambulance service contract, which currently belongs to Medavie Health Services New Brunswick, comes up for renewal in 2027.
Municipal leaders have long raised concerns about inconsistent paramedic presence in their communities due to the dynamic deployment model of ambulances.
When a paramedic crew is dispatched to a call, nearby ambulances move around to ensure no area is left without an ambulance in close proximity.
“Our members are concerned about the delays in response time and the overall structure of Ambulance New Brunswick (ANB),” Brittany Merrifield, president of UMNB, said in a news release.
Merrifield said they want to see a review of the service to ensure the shortcomings, including the increasing fire department response to medical calls, are addressed before heading into any contract renewal discussions.
Fire chiefs say their members are responding to an increasing number of medical calls — around 157,000 since 2010 alone — which shows the current system is not working.
“Our members are feeling the pressure from increased medical response calls across the province,” Scott Poupart, president of the New Brunswick Association of Fire Chief, said in the release.
“Whether it is assisting ANB with medically needed lift assists or complex medical responses, we need to work together to find a solution within the paramedic system for these unsustainable demands.”
Phil Comeau, president of the Paramedic Association of New Brunswick, said these concerns should be taken seriously and are consistent with what paramedics experience every day.
“We all know that the current structure isn’t meeting demands, and we need to redesign it,” said Comeau. “This is a good opportunity for us to come together and fix our system with a community-based model.”
A report from the province’s auditor general tabled in 2020 highlighted several areas of concern for ambulance services in New Brunswick.
It found the contract was poorly structured, allowing for questionable payments for paramedic vacancies, excessive use of response time exemptions and ambiguous performance measures.
The audit also found the legislative framework and governance structure did not provide sufficient oversight of ambulance services due to numerous inherent conflicts and requires significant improvement.
UMNB said it supports the need to assess community requirements to ensure better delivery of paramedic services, to understand regional health-care demands and improve response capabilities.
The union said it also supports a fulsome consultation process with all municipal governments prior to 2027 to ensure that transparent and accessible paramedic services are available to all residents, regardless of location.
