Emergency Medical Service (EMS)

EMS delivers frontline 911 pre hospital EMS delivers frontline 911 pre hospital care to our community for:care to our community for:

sudden illness (heart attack, stroke, diabetic reactions, asthma etc.)

traumatic injuries (motor vehicle collisions, burns, falls, sporting injuries etc.)

EMS Staff includes:EMS Staff includes: 34 full time Paramedics – 9 are Advanced Care (ACP) and 25 are Primary Care Paramedics (PCP)

37 part time Paramedics (8 ACP and 29 PCP)

3 Paramedic Supervisors (two operational and one for quality assurance and education)

1 Administration Assistant

EMS Manager / Deputy Chief (Keith Kirkpatrick)

EMS Director / Chief (David Guilbault)

EMS VehiclesEMS Vehicles

The vehicles we use are known as Emergency Response Units (ERU) and Ambulances. Those vehicles respond to medical emergencies in the community bringing Primary or Advanced Care Paramedics.

EMS StatsEMS Stats

CKL EMS responds to approximately 12,000 calls per year:

4,200 life threatening emergencies (lights and siren response) 3,500 urgent requests for help 500 emergency transfers (moving patients from Ross Memorial

hospital to specialized medical facilities out side of CKL)

300 non urgent transfers – EMS rarely provides this service as it is now done by the Community Care non Urgent Transfer Service

120 emergency trips from the community airport to Ross Memorial Hospital and back to move critically ill patients for the air ambulances

CKL EMS Stats (cont)CKL EMS Stats (cont)

4000 standbys (moving ambulances and or emergency response units into geographical positions to cover areas of concern)

The majority of the standbys are to cover our own communities in CKL. Other standbys are to provide Paramedics at incidents that support Police or Fire Services at scenes with a potential for people to be injured. We also provide EMS standbys for neighboring communities as requested and they cover for us in reciprocal agreements.

When you see an EMS ambulance or response vehicle sitting on the side of the road, you will now know that they are providing standby coverage to ensure a quick EMS response for the specific area they are in.

Modern EMSModern EMS…more than a fast ride to the hospital……more than a fast ride to the hospital…

Kawartha Lakes EMS provides both Primary and Advance Care Paramedics

The Primary Care Paramedics have medical delegation to perform, Basic Life Support (professional responder CPR, airway management,

oxygen therapy, basic trauma life support), semi automatic defibrillation (for the management of sudden cardiac arrest), symptom relief medications (i.e. nitroglycerin, aspirin, glucagon, ventolin, and adrenalin) – these medications are used for the management of heart attack, diabetic reactions, asthma and allergic reaction.

Advance Care Paramedics are delegated to perform all of the procedures outlined for the primary level as well as, Advanced Life Support (advanced cardiac life support, advanced assessment and critical interventions) , Intubation (placing a special tube directly into a persons windpipe), chest decompression (inserting a needle into a persons chest to re inflate a collapsed lung), intravenous (insertion of a needle into a vien), medications and fluids are put through the intravenous for numerous situations (cardiac arrest, heart attack, respiratory conditions, diabetes, seizure conditions, shock care for trauma and burns), electrical therapy (manual defibrillation, cardioversion and cardiac pacing).

ornge ornge (spelled correctly)(spelled correctly)

Is the delivery of Critical Care Paramedics to our community through the ornge patient care system (ambulances, helicopters and planes). Most citizens understand ornge through the air ambulance they see landing at large motor vehicle collisions. These paramedics are very sophisticated and perform all the skill set of both the primary and advanced care providers as well as:

Critical surgical procedures, administration of intensive care medications, use of infusion pumps and intravenous drips, and administration of blood and blood products

Today’s ParamedicToday’s Paramedic

Today's Paramedic (cont)Today's Paramedic (cont)

Today's Paramedic is a well trained emergency health care provider.

Primary Care Paramedic certificate program is two years at community college (2000 hours) – local colleges that offer this program are Sir Sandford Fleming, Durham, Centennial and Humber Colleges.

Advanced Care Paramedic program is one additional year at a post certificate approved College (1000 hours) – local colleges that offer this program are - Durham and Humber College.

Critical Care Paramedic program is one more additional year by the medical director that oversees the ornge program in intensive care and flight medicine (1000 hours).

Paramedics are a Community Life LineParamedics are a Community Life Line

Paramedics are a community Life Paramedics are a community Life Line (cont)Line (cont)

Paramedics provide: Life saving care Compassion and empathy to those in need Comfort and pain management Public education in preparedness (safety,

first aid, CPR and Public Access Defibrillation)

Primary ZonesPrimary Zones

Primary Zones (cont)Primary Zones (cont) We have paramedics stationed in three primary zones:

Lindsay - 89 St. David Street – three 12 hour day time ambulances (6 paramedics) and two 12 hour night shift ambulances (4 paramedics).

The third ambulance in Lindsay is moved to other areas of the community when the 911 call volume can be predicted to increase (i.e. Fenelon Falls area on summer weekends).

Bobcaygeon – 1 Duke Street - one ambulance 24 hours per day (4 paramedics – 2 for day shift and 2 for night shift).

Fenelon Falls – 1 Industrial Drive - one ambulance 24 hours per day (4 paramedics – 2 for day shift and 2 for night shift).

Secondary ZonesSecondary Zones

Are areas in the community where we position EMS resources (response vehicles or ambulances) when we can predict response times may increase due to:

911 call volume (i.e. summer weekends) Community events (i.e. parades, fairs and

festivals) Severe weather or road closures The most common secondary zones are

Oakwood, Manvers area, Omemee and Coboconk

Community Involvement Community Involvement

EMS is a vital part of the community and our paramedics are involved in championing many

important causes including:

Paramedics in The Park (annual event fundraising for various community charities)

Heart and Stroke Foundation endeavors (fundraising, CPR education and safe defibrillation deployment)

Community Care (providing ongoing support and patient transport expertise)

Supporting the troops (pilgrimages to repatriation ceremonies, wearing red on Fridays)

Participating in CKL Police initiatives (cops for cancer and the polar plunge)

St. John ambulance (donation of ambulance and equipment) Support of the Food Source and A Place Called Home

Community Education and Community Education and PreparednessPreparedness

Start A HeartStart A Heart EMS is managing and working with community partners

(i.e. Heart and Stroke, Ross Memorial Hospital, and the Fire Department) on an aggressive Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) program. This program is called “Start a Heart”. Today we have 60 PAD sites in the community and our paramedics have taught about 5,000 citizens over the past three years in CPR and the use of a public access defibrillator (PAD). We encourage groups who are hosting large public events to contact us so we can help make sure the event is safe by planning for medical emergencies before they happen. EMS has several loaner PAD machines for citizens to borrow for a nominal donation back into the maintenance of the “Start-A-Heart Program”.

Heart HeroHeart Hero

EMS Paramedics have developed a Heart Hero program designed to empower children to teach adults the live saving skill of CPR. This is another initiative where community donations are welcomed to empower our youth to truly be leaders!

Teaching the Next GenerationTeaching the Next Generation

Cardiac Arrest Saves Cardiac Arrest Saves

Pictured are cardiac arrest saves from 2008 and 2009 in which Paramedics played a crucial role.

Obviously Paramedics do a lot more than cardiac arrest management, however, these saves are the most dramatic of EMS calls.

EMS’s Recent PastEMS’s Recent Past

EMS’s Recent Past (cont)EMS’s Recent Past (cont)

EMS became organized in Ontario about 40 years ago and standardization of vehicles and equipment as well as basic life support education became important. The first Advanced Care Paramedic programs started with:

Toronto air ambulance (1977), land ambulances in Oshawa (1979), and then Toronto / Hamilton (1984)

The first Primary Paramedic program was in Windsor in 1989 (defibrillation and symptom relief medications)

CKL had its first EMS defibrillator program in 1989 and Primary Care Paramedics by 1993. The first Advanced Care Paramedics hit the streets of Lindsay in 1997

EMS and the FutureEMS and the Future EMS is now being revaluated as to it’s future and

questions are being such as: Can paramedics provide more care for patients in

the home? Does more paramedic care result in shorter hospital

stays? Can some patients be treated by a Paramedic and

left in their home? Can we move patients directly from their homes or

scenes to specialized hospitals (this is already occurring for stroke patients)?

Historical EMS DataHistorical EMS Data Historical data directs EMS in community preparedness and locating

paramedics in areas where medical emergencies can be predicated. One example of this is placing Paramedics on bikes so they can reach people in

congested areas (i.e. parades, fairs, festivals etc.). Research statistics predict an increased need for Paramedics when 1,000

or more people, with an average age of 50, gather. Our bike paramedics have treated minor and serious patients at every event that have been

deployed to in 2009.

04/19/23 Heart Care

The End