Today in Paramedic Services Week we cover the wider community of emergency medical care and response colleagues who help us help you. Frontenac Paramedics are an important part of a province-wide coordinated and integrated emergency response and healthcare system. Although this week is about paramedics, we rely on a wide array of system partners, and they rely on us.

Consider this: When you dial 911 for medical emergency, the call is answered by our colleagues at the Kingston Central Ambulance Communications Centre (CACC). They collect information and dispatch Frontenac Paramedics crews to the scene.

Kingston Central Ambulance Communications Centre Communications Officers answer 911 calls for medical emergency and alert and dispatch paramedics. In Ontario, the closest available paramedic crew to any given emergency is alerted by CACC and moves toward the scene. This means that if a Frontenac Paramedics crew happens to be the closest available to an emergency medical call in a neighbouring jurisdiction, they will respond. Similarly, if there’s a large emergency with many patients needing simultaneous care or otherwise a very high demand for emergency medical service here in Frontenac, paramedic crews from neighbouring services may respond.

Frontenac Paramedics’ home jurisdiction for example borders those of Lennox-Addington Paramedic Services, County of Renfrew Paramedic Service, Lanark County Paramedic Service, and Leeds & Grenville Paramedic Service.

Kingston Health Science Centre (KHSC) is Frontenac Paramedics’ base hospital and the lead trauma hospital for South East Ontario. Frontenac Paramedics treat patients under the medical authority and oversight of KHSC medical staff. Paramedics rely on nurses and emergency physicians to receive patients in the emergency department at Kingston General Hospital so paramedics can get back on the road. Paramedic services from across the region regularly treat and transport patients to KHSC in Kingston.

Ambulances from Lanark, Frontenac Paramedics, and Leeds & Grenville at the emergency department area at Kingston General Hospital.
When time is of the essence, the most critically ill of Frontenac Paramedics’ patients may be treated and transported by our paramedic colleagues at Ornge Air Ambulance.

If a patient is in a difficult-to-reach area, requires extraction, or is reported to be unconscious, fire and rescue teams from Kingston Fire and Rescue, South Frontenac Fire and Rescue, Central Frontenac Fire and Rescue, North Frontenac Fire Department, Wolfe Island Fire and Rescue, Howe Island Fire and Rescue, or any other nearby fire departments are dispatched as well.

Members of East Region Ontario Provincial Police and Kingston Police play a critical role in protecting paramedics’ safety while on the road and on scene, securing the area, managing any road traffic or crowds, and conducting any subsequent criminal investigation. Tactical paramedics may also be embedded with police during high-risk law enforcement and crisis activities.

Those above are just a few system partners among the too many to mention here that help us help you. County, city, and township officials; military and Coast Guard; personnel at large institutions and organizations across the region; social service providers; and many more may be involved.

And finally and perhaps most importantly, you and every private citizen helps us help you by knowing CPR and some first aid, how and when to call 911, what to do when you see paramedics on the road, how to prepare your patient for when paramedics arrive, and ultimately by managing your own risks and looking out for your family, friends, neighbours, and strangers.

Today in Paramedic Services week is Canadian Paramedicine Research Day when we draw attention to scientific research involving and affecting paramedics. DYK that Frontenac Paramedics participate in various academic studies in collaboration with researchers and other paramedic services?

It’s all aimed at expanding human understanding of emergency medical response and the profession of paramedicine. It ensures that paramedics continually operate at or above the contemporary professional standard and that the patients we treat receive the very best possible care and best chance of recovery.

Just a few current and recent examples:

The Neighbours Saving Neighbours volunteer responder for cardiac arrest pilot program study. (Queen’s University Faculty of Health Sciences)

Frontenac Paramedics leadership, Dr. Steven Brooks, Vlad Latiu, and Central Ambulance Communications Centre leadership at the NSN launch event, 1 September 2023.

External Violence Against Paramedics (EVAP) project (Violence in Paramedicine Research Group)

Frontenac Paramedics anti-violence against paramedics campaign, 2023.

Prehospital Palliative Care Project at Home study (Ottawa Hospital Research Institute)

Prehospital Analgesia in Adults using Inhaled Methoxyflurane Study (Ottawa Hospital Research Institute).

#CanPRD #SPUCan #ParamedicServicesWeek #HelpUsHelpYou Kingston Health Sciences Centre Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs Paramedic Chiefs of Canada

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. . .