Lambton EMS is making some changes to its deployment plan.
The alterations, which take effect Monday, October 7 were recommended in the 2024-2028 EMS Master Plan in an effort to minimize response times and reduce impact on crews and fleet.
Lambton Emergency Medical Services Manager Stephen Turner said updates include the ability to defer lower priority calls when there are few available ambulances.
"Without changes to our deployment or our staffing, the number of times that no ambulance is available when somebody calls 911 is anticipated to increase four-fold over the next five years," said Turner.
He said moving forward, lower priority calls may be held for up to 30 minutes to allow for shift changes for crews, reducing shift overruns and overtime.
"911 calls are triaged by the ambulance communications centre in Wallaceburg," said Turner. "Emergent calls typically involve potential threat to life or limb such as chest-pain, unconsciousness, shortness of breath or motor-vehicle collisions. Non-emergent calls may include complaints such as minor orthopaedic injuries or general illness."
Turner said changes will result in a cost savings of about $50,000 a year, and will provide better overall service to those who call 911, ensuring the right resources are available at the right time.
"We recognize this may result in concerns from the public when the response to a non-emergent call is delayed," said Turner. "But, it's important for us to be able to manage call demand in times when our system is pressured, and to ensure that resources are available for those emergent calls, which may require a more immediate response."
The deployment plan also includes changes in the event of extreme weather.
Turner said if they can't get there safely, they can't help anyone.
"On the rare occasions where the road conditions have deteriorated to the point that they're not safely passable, we will pause operations in that area until conditions have improved sufficiently, or until we're able to get support getting to the call such as use of a snow plow for an escort," he said.
Other changes include developing three zones, West, North and South, to handle standby coverage and limiting out-of-county patient transfers to one at a time.
On Wednesday, Lambton County Council authorized staff to proceed with necessary actions to improve the use of resources and response times.
Lambton EMS currently operates out of nine stations with 70 full-time and 78 part-time paramedics.