Today for #ParamedicServicesWeek, we highlight the education and outreach work that paramedics do every day among each other and for the public. This work is all about preparation, harm reduction, and prevention.

Just a few examples here: This week, Frontenac Paramedics are onboarding a healthy cohort of new recruits. Some of them have experience with other paramedic services, others are freshly graduated. They’re being trained and checked-out on their ambulance driving skills and autonomous IV procedures among the education work they’re required to complete before they’re certified to work.

New Frontenac Paramedics recruits are checked-out on safe ambulance-handling skills, May 21.

Frontenac Paramedics lead autonomous IV training for new recruits, May 21. On the public-facing side, Paramedics visit classes of students of all ages to teach about careers in paramedicine. They oversee training and certification for public programs like the Neighbours Saving Neighbours program for cardiac arrest. They maintain a continual presence at the Consumption and Treatment Site for those who may be living with substance-use or other medical disorders. They conduct public service campaigns advising patients how and when to best access emergency medical services. And much, much more.

Frontenac Paramedics liaise with students in all programs of all ages from kindergarten to these Queen's Health Sciences students we visited on April 6, 2024.

Frontenac Paramedics teach CPR and proper AED use to Neighbours Saving Neighbours volunteer responders on May 9, 2023.

Frontenac Paramedics maintain an ongoing presence at the Consumption and Treatment Site in Kingston to provide treatment, guidance, and support for those living with substance-use or other medical disorders.

Frontenac Paramedics run ongoing public service and awareness campaigns to help people access the right social and medical services at the right times and to preserve emergency medical capacity for those who need it most.

An injury avoided, the right treatment and first-aid applied at the right time, and teaching people about how best to prepare for emergencies that hopefully never happen can and does save lives. It's one of the best ways you can #HelpUsHelpYou.

Today for Paramedic Services Week we cover Community Paramedicine. Frontenac Paramedics pioneered the Community Paramedicine program in our region as early as 2014. The program has expanded greatly here and across the province since then. There are some great advantages to it including alternative career pathways for working paramedics, ways for paramedics to build deeper and more enduring relationships with patients, demand relief on emergency medical capacity, and similar demand relief for long-term care home beds. But perhaps the biggest advantages of Community Paramedicine are for our clients. You don’t have to take our word for it . . .

Click here to learn more about Community Paramedicine.

#ParamedicServicesWeek #HelpUsHelpYou

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