As the Hastings-Quinte Emergency Services begins 2019, it still has its eye on reducing non-urgent ambulance calls.
Chief of Emergency Services Doug Socha outlined the work of the department to the new members of the committee on Wednesday.
He spoke to Quinte News about some of the issues the department faces.
Socha says he is meeting with Quinte Health Care officials about the issue of non-urgent or non-emergency calls.
He says they come from “multiple hospitals” and that is “a challenge.”
He says opioid problems are on the rise across Canada but do not account for a large number of the overall ambulance calls here.
“Naloxone became more and more relevant with the heath unit giving out a lot more kits.
Hastings-Quinte Chief of Paramedic Services Doug Socha addresses the EMS committee, January 9, 2019 (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
As the health unit task force team we sit on together, we keep our finger on the pulse of how to deal with that emergency.”
Socha pointed to the work of the department’s four community paramedics.
“We’re offering wellness clinics within the community across Hastings and Prince Edward County. We do home visits for those patients that we see on a regular basis who may not have a primary care provider, physician or nurse practitioner. We’re really helping families navigate the health care system to find resources and it’s really about becoming more proactive as opposed to reactive and we’re seeing some benefits from that.”
