Today for Paramedic Services Week we cover paramedics’ foundational work: Emergency response and acute care. Though most people don’t really know all that paramedics do, responding to calls for help related to severe injury or illness is what paramedics are most widely known for. We often meet, treat, and transport patients – usually total strangers – who are living their most vulnerable and terrifying days. It’s what all that training and expertise is for.

We can’t do it alone, though. We count on you, members of the public, to help us provide the most urgent care to those who need it most. You help us by making the right call: Calling 911 for medical emergencies but choosing and accessing alternative services in non-life-threatening situations. We count on motorists to move over and stay well clear of paramedic vehicles while our emergency lights are flashing. We count on you to follow our instructions and give us the time and space we need to work quickly and safely.

You help us by staying vigilant, managing your personal risks, downloading What3Words in case we need to locate you quickly even when you’re in the middle nowhere. You help us help you by learning CPR and first aid. And you help us help you by volunteering for and supporting programs like Neighbours Saving Neighbours.

National Paramedic Services Week is a time to honour the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) profession and recognize the professionals who provide this vital public service.

This year’s national theme, Help Us Help You, is an opportunity to highlight the many ways that paramedic services help people, from the provision of emergency care for those critically ill and injured to the more contemporary role of paramedic services as part of a greater health system.

Join us as we celebrate you and your colleagues, our frontline heroes, by sharing stories, giving thanks to one another and learning more about the incredible care we provide each and every day.

Learn more about Frontenac Paramedics on our website and visit our Plan for the future page.

Motion #: 87-24 Carried, 15 May 2024

Moved By: Councillor Saunders

Seconded By: Warden Smith

Be It Resolved That the Council of the County of Frontenac accept this Emergency and Transportation Services – 2025 Ambulance Replacement report for information;

And Further That Council approve the request to add one vehicle to the Frontenac Paramedic fleet in 2024 by keeping one vehicle that was due for replacement in 2024;

And Further That Council approve the transfer of up to $198,000 from the Joint Vehicle Reserve for deposit on the purchase of 2025 vehicles to be used in the 2024 budget year.

Work on the new two-bay Frontenac Paramedics base in Glenburnie is nearing completion. You can see in the pictures below from today that asphalt is being laid. There are few more technical and communications elements to be completed and installed before the project is complete.

For more on this and other projects now ongoing and nearing completion on Frontenac County Campus, visit our Frontenac County Campus Redevelopment page.

From today, 5 May, 2024.

And inside from April 23.

Frontenac Paramedics Chief Gale Chevalier presented a series of initial options for the future of Frontenac Paramedics to Frontenac County Council at a Council strategic planning working group session on October 18, 2023.

Chief Chevalier described a possible change in paramedics' current and traditional distributed, or fixed base, deployment model. A new, modern, central book-on model, or flexible-post model, would see paramedics report for work to a centralized location from which they are sent to where they are most needed.

Chevalier described four possible options for the future long-term strategic direction:

1. Minimal planning: Partner with City of Kingston on Taylor-Kidd/Demers but decline to construct a central book-on location. Complete design for third floor of administration building on Frontenac County Campus.
2. Investigate converting Fairmount Home facilities on Frontenac County campus to central book-on and training facilities if Fairmount moves to another location.
3. Investigate building an all new central book-on and training facility on Frontenac County campus.
4. Purse a partnership with The City of Kingston for a central book-on and training facility at the Railway St. planned by and in The City of Kingston.

It's important to note that these options are merely a starting point for Council discussion and consideration, and that strategic choices related to Frontenac Paramedics will likely be informed by the strategic decisions pertaining to Fairmount Home. Click here to learn more about Fairmount Home.

Council voted to gather more information related to costs with the City of Kingston with an eye to further exploring option four above. Next steps to come in due course after staff reports back to Council.

Watch video of Chief Chevalier's presentation below for more detail and cost implications.

And watch Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender introduce the strategic proposals and discussion for Frontenac Paramedics and Fairmount Home. . .

Eastern Ontario - The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) is proud to release the Partial Refresh of the 2019 EOWC Paramedic Services Situation Overview Report.

The refreshed report can be seen here.

The EOWC set paramedic services as a priority for 2023 in response to the growing pressure faced by paramedic services throughout the region. The report includes updated data for both the EOWC as a region as well as each of the 13 member municipalities following the initial EOWC paramedic services situational overview report from 2019. The EOWC looks forward to sharing the report, key findings and recommendations with its Ontario Government partners and key stakeholders to work together to improve paramedics services, community paramedicine and the overall community healthcare across rural eastern Ontario.

The report contains an updated environmental scan, new five-year predictive forecasts, and the following priority recommendations:

• Hospital offload delays need to be fixed
• Community paramedicine programs require a provincial commitment to permanent and predictable funding
• The dispatch system needs to be modernized to ensure the deployment of resources appropriate to 911 response, and to support community paramedicine
• Community college paramedic enrollment needs to increase

“As part of the community healthcare sector, paramedic services carried communities throughout the pandemic. The EOWC likes to do our homework and this report shows exactly that. We look forward to advocating for these evidence-based recommendations and working with our provincial partners to make improvements,” stated EOWC Chair Peter Emon.

“As a former nurse, I am proud to be part of finding solutions based on data and would like thank staff that were involved. This report sheds light on what needs to be done to better support our rural communities and find efficiencies in the healthcare system. I look forward to continuing to advocate for improved healthcare systems and resource allocation,” said EOWC Vice-Chair, Bonnie Clark.

The EOWC recognizes contributions from the Paramedic Services Chiefs, Chief Administrative Officers, and municipal staff from across the region. The EOWC would like to thank ApexPro Consulting Inc. for their services in developing both the initial report in 2019 and this 2023 refreshed report.

Video of Frontenac Paramedics Chief Gale Chevalier and Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender briefing Frontenac County Council on the report 21 June, 2023:

About the EOWC

The EOWC is an incorporated non-profit organization comprised of the Heads of Council of 13 upper and single-tier municipalities across rural eastern Ontario. The Caucus supports and advocates on behalf of 103 municipalities and nearly 800,000 residents. The EOWC covers an area of almost 50,000 square kilometres from the County of Northumberland to the Québec border. The EOWC has gained support and momentum by speaking with a united voice to champion regional municipal priorities and work with government, business leaders, the media, and the public.

For more information, please contact:
EOWC General and Media Inquiries, info@eowc.org
Peter Emon, Chair, info@eowc.org
Bonnie Clark, Vice-Chair, info@eowc.org
Meredith Staveley-Watson, Manager of Government Relations and Policy, meredith.staveley-watson@eowc.org or 647-545-8324

GLENBURNIE, ON – Frontenac County Council today voted unanimously to approve a 2023 budget that includes $1 million to hire eight new full-time Paramedics to staff two new 12-hour ambulance crew shifts stationed in the City of Kingston.

“There’s a lot of demand for Paramedics’ time across the County,” says Frontenac County Warden Ron Vandewal. “We have to do more with less spending power this year but people’s health is the most important thing. Having more paramedics on the road in the city will help to reduce the number times paramedics stationed in rural areas are called to Kingston.”

Frontenac County and Frontenac Paramedics broke ground in October on a new two-bay, $3-million, paramedic station on Frontenac County campus just north of 401 at Montreal St.

The previous projection for increasing demand for paramedic services in the City of Kingston as the population grows and grows older was about 3.8 percent per year through 2029 but Frontenac Paramedics’ data show an increase of at least five percent per year in each of the last two years. As well as rising call volumes, paramedics are spending more time on scene and more time at emergency departments before patients are passed to hospital care than anticipated.

“These much-needed new resources will help ensure that we are able to continue to maintain the high standard of patient care we’ve promised,” says Frontenac Paramedics Chief Gale Chevalier. “I want to thank members of Frontenac County Council and their funding partners for supporting this plan, especially during this year of such difficult financial choices.”

The new resources are also in addition to the new $3-million paramedics station planned for construction later this year on Frontenac County campus in Glenburnie. When complete, the new station will help to address paramedic response times where demand is high in the Rideau Heights and Montreal St. areas of Kingston, the Highway 401 corridor, and the rapidly developing areas of The Township of South Frontenac.

Background:

Frontenac Paramedics Chief Gale Chevalier presentation to Council, Feb 8

Frontenac County Council approves plan for construction of new Frontenac Paramedics station in Glenburnie

Frontenac County, Frontenac Paramedics break ground on new paramedic station

Frontenac Paramedics - A Plan for the Future

Matt Mills, Communications Officer, County of Frontenac

Phone: 613-548-9400 x 305 Email: mmills@frontenaccounty.ca