On January 1, 1998, amendments to the Ambulance Act (Bill 152) resulted in the transfer of Land Ambulance services to the Upper Tier Municipalities by January 1, 2000. On March 23, 1999, the government announced its intention to extend the deadline for municipalities to assume responsibility for land ambulance to January 1, 2001.

Effective January 1, 2001 , the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) became responsible as the delivery agent for the provision of ambulance services within the District and contracts were negotiated with existing providers to continue delivery of the service, which included:

• Englehart and District Hospital Ambulance Service
• Buffam Ambulance Service
• Kirkland and District Hospital Ambulance Service

As of January 1, 2005 , the DTSSAB assumed direct delivery of Land Ambulance Services integrating into a district-wide Emergency Medical Service. 

 As the sole provider of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to the District of Timiskaming, the DTSSAB EMS program is dedicated to providing the best possible emergency medical service to the District 

STAFFING
Service is maintained utilizing the skills of over 42 full-time and part-time provincially certified paramedics working on varying shifts providing service 24/7.  The paramedics are supervised by two Field Supervisors stationed in the North and South ends of the District, with a Program Manager responsible for the overall management of the program.  The staffing patterns include:  

Kirkland Lake

7 am to 7 pm - 2 crews on site, seven days per week
7 pm to 7 am - 1 crew on site, Monday to Friday

Englehart

7 am to 7 pm - 1 crew on site, seven day per week
7 pm to 7 am - 1 crew on-call, seven days per week

Timiskaming Shores

7 am to 7 pm - 1 crew on site, seven days per week
8 am to 4 pm - 1 crew on site, seven days per week
7 pm to 7 am - 1 crew on site, seven days per week

EMS FLEET
The EMS fleet consists of nine Ambulances stationed at three dedicated bases in Kirkland Lake , Englehart and Haileybury.  The EMS fleet also consists of three Emergency First Response Team vehicles used by volunteers in Larder Lake , Virginatown and Latchford.  These teams are in place to help provide immediate medical response until an ambulance arrives at the scene.

CALL VOLUME
Emergency calls make up over 60% of the call volume, which also includes assignments aimed at providing a balance in emergency coverage otherwise known as standby calls.  The remaining 40% of call volume is comprised of non-urgent calls, which are mostly patient transfers between medical and long-term care facilities.

·        2006 - 6478 calls were recorded, 3997 were emergencies
·        2005 - 6395 calls were recorded, 3715 were emergencies

CALL ASSIGNMENT
Calls are assigned through the North Bay Central Ambulance Communications Center . The incoming calls are prioritized by asking key questions from a ministry approved tool known as the Dispatch Priority Card Index.  Calls are then assigned to an ambulance as Urgent, Prompt, Scheduled, or Deferrable.  The closest available and most appropriate ambulance is assigned to each call.  A DTSSAB approved Deployment Plan outlining strategies to use District resources is also followed.

STANDARDS & PRINCIPLES
The EMS Program is subject to meeting the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Provincial Certification Standards every three years and must be certified to provide land ambulance services to our District.

In addition, service delivery must be in compliance with the Coroner’s Act, Highway Traffic Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, the ministry’s Patient Care Standards and Documentation Standards.

The EMS Program is accountable to the legislated standards in the Ambulance Act and Regulations which includes the following area

ü     Service Provider Certification
ü      Minimum Response Times
ü      Paramedic Qualifications, Training and Certification
ü      Control of Delegated Medical Acts
ü      Patient Care Standards
ü      Documentation Standards
ü      Vehicles and Equipment Operation/Maintenance
ü      Dispatch Communication

The fundamental principles that govern the delivery of land ambulance services within a comprehensive emergency health care system include the following:

ü      Accessibility
ü      Integration
ü      Seamlessness
ü      Accountability
ü      Responsiveness
ü      Provincial Responsibilities

 EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES
The EMS program is committed to ensuring response to emergency calls to meet or improve upon the ministry’s Provincial Response Time Standards for ninety percent of the emergency calls received.  

The EMS program continually monitors its performance and ability to improve response and reaction times to all emergency calls.

COMMUNITY LINKAGES
The EMS program is an active emergency service partner in numerous committees and planning partnerships throughout the District, including:  

• Temiskaming Shores Community Emergency Management Program Committee
• South Temiskaming Regional Emergency Services Training Program Committee
• Temiskaming Risk Watch Committee
• Timiskaming District End Of Life Service Network Committee
• International Plowing Match 2009 Emergency Planning Sub Committee
• Northern College Paramedic Program Advisory Committee

In addition to committees and working groups, EMS is a key member in planning emergency response simulated training and mock disaster exercises throughout the District of Timiskaming.       

The importance of planning for community needs is that the social, economic, demographic, geographic, and health status characteristics of the communities drive the current and future service needs.  The EMS program works in close partnership with community and institutional health care services, as well as police and fire services to ensure these needs are met for the District.

SERVICE COMMITMENT
The EMS Program is committed to providing quality patient care to the residents and visitors of the District.

Service provided is to the level of primary care paramedics, and shall be to a minimum of those standards of care as prescribed within the ministry’s Basic Life Support Patient Care Standards and Advanced Life Support Patient Care Standards where applicable. District paramedics presently provide patient care that includes:

ü      intravenous fluid delivery
ü      combitube airway maintenance
ü      cardiac defibrillation
ü      administration of various symptomatic injected medications

Quality assurance is monitored by an internal program administered by one of the Field Supervisors in addition to the Base Hospital Program operated through the North Bay General Hospital .  

The Paramedic Staff and Operations Team of the EMS program is committed to providing the District of Timiskaming with premium patient care.