Wheatland EMS ready for 2019

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

Wheatland EMS (also known as Wheatland and Adjacent Districts Emergency Medical Services Association – WADEMSA) has been around a long time – 30 years, according to Rob Witty, Wheatland EMS operations director.
Appearing before Wheatland County council in December 2018, Witty provided a summary of activity for 2018 and a forecast of projects beginning in 2019.
The service completed 3,548 calls as of November 2018, and training was completed by all staff members last year.
“In 2018, we became federally accredited, thanks to the hard work of manager Kevin Link,” said Witty. “It was an enormous project that he spearheaded and had lots of staff input to get us there. He did a terrific job in allowing us to reach this accredited status.”
Witty said part of the accreditation process included launching a website (wheatlandems.com) and developing a Facebook page.
He said the service is participating in the “work alone and journey management program” with the Town of Strathmore, to monitor workers that are working alone or travelling to distant destinations. The dispatch call worker gets a call and will check in with the person as to their safety or arrival. He suggested the county might like to utilize the service.
A fundraising golf tournament held in June raised $25,000, and the money went to the Wheatland and Area Hospice Society and Strathmore Regional Victim Services.
Wheatland EMS obtained a new ambulance to replace an older one and purchased some equipment for in-service training. Witty said that there were also some renovations to the ambulance hall in 2018.
An initiative for 2019 is developing a backup evacuation centre as required under provincial guidelines. It will be used as a backup for service interruptions in emergency and disaster situations.
Witty said contract talks are ongoing, and he hopes they reach an agreement in 2019. They are continuing to meet with Alberta Health Services (AHS) dispatch centre that dispatches the ambulances, to work out some of the problems between the two services. He said he was encouraged by the establishment of a dispatch issue resolution working group that meets every two weeks.
“We have seen an improvement, and I hope this is a trend in them alerting us in a more timely fashion for our first responders,” said Witty. “We are getting some resolutions to what we put forward. We will keep on them every two weeks should issues arise.”
Nine Wheatland EMS staff received Alberta Emergency Services medals for 12 years of emergency service.
“It was an accomplishment for many of our staff to be awarded that medal,” said Witty.
Wheatland EMS operates three ambulances 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, providing both advanced and basic life support services for patients, and medical transfers between hospitals. Operating as a contracted health provider with Alberta Health Services, Wheatland EMS also operates the Wheatland regional 911 dispatch centre, which dispatches calls for the county’s nine fire departments.