Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry raised concerns about expanding the coverage area of Island EMS’s rapid response unit during question period in the P.E.I. legislature Thursday.
The Tignish Fire Department and some residents expressed similar concerns during a recent meeting of Tignish town council. They fear expanding the rapid response unit’s coverage area to include East Prince will result in a reduction of service in West Prince.
Perry said with the expansion of the program, there is a possibility that the unit could be too far away to help those in the Tignish area in the event of an emergency and result in putting more pressure on the Tignish Fire Department.
Health Minister Robert Mitchell said this is not the intention. The rapid response unit is increasing to two new vehicles and will run seven days a week instead of five.
Mitchell said with the use of the Island EMS dispatch unit, GPS system and historical data, they will assign these vehicles to the best possible place.
“It’s certainly not to take away or mean the fire department will have to step up and do more work,” said Mitchell. “We are hoping to the contrary.”
Perry wanted to know how these changes will affect the day-to-day activities of the rapid response unit paramedics and if additional level two and level three paramedics will be hired to help with the increased hours.
Mitchell said although they are not involved in the hiring of Island EMS, they have indicated that to obtain the service they want with this rapid response unit, they will have to hire some new individuals.
