Northern Alberta doctors want delay of medevac move
CBC News
Posted: Mar 4, 2013 5:10 PM MT
Last Updated: Mar 4, 2013 7:43 PM MT
Doctors from northern Alberta are calling on the province to delay moving air ambulance flights out of City Centre Airport until a better solution can be found.
The Alberta government is moving the base to Edmonton International Airport on March 15th because the city is closing City Centre Airport to free the land for development.
But the doctors — who have organized as the Save Our Medevac Services Society — believe that moving the flight base south of Edmonton will create delays for critically ill or injured patients, which could result in more deaths.
Dr. Richard Birkill, medical director of the Lac La Biche Hospital, says patients can get to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton in 38 minutes. He says the transport time will double after March 15th.
"We know that we will be losing patients in the process,” he said.
“We already lose patients and we see the patients that we lost because of time delays in the transport system."
Edmonton physician Dr. Kerry Pawluski says the city has yet to give one-year notice of the closure of the second and final runway at City Centre Airport.
He says the runway only takes up one-third of the land slated for development and will not interfere with current plans to expand NAIT and the LRT.
"Why not keep the runway with medevacs flying until that last third is even needed in the next 15 to 25 years?" he asked.
The doctors’ group expressed their concerns in a full page newspaper advertisement on Monday.
Health Minister Fred Horne said he was disappointed by the content of the ad.
“There is no evidence offered in the ad, there are no arguments presented,” Horne said.
“And yet, the ad suggests to Albertans that they should be afraid of the result of the move of the medevac facility to the Edmonton International.”
Horne said that he has no concerns about patient safety or the quality of care with the new medevac site.
He says travel time from Calgary International Airport to the Foothills Hospital is just over 30 minutes, the same as from Edmonton International to University of Alberta Hospital.
Share Tools
Latest Edmonton News Headlines
- Woman diagnosed with ALS helps fundraise for a cure
- Distance hasn't been the only difficulty Susann and Hajime Sakaguchi have had to overcome in the course of their love story. more »
- Children driven around too much, Canadian report suggests
- Fewer Canadian kids are commuting by walking or biking as a new report reveals a marked decline among young people using active modes of transportation. more »
- Dozens tricked by fools gold scam
- A scam of fools gold appears to be afoot in Edmonton. more »
- Wildfires in Strathcona County and Spruce Grove
- The high winds and warm temperatures which caused Edmonton to impose a fire ban on Tuesday afternoon are keeping firefighters busy outside of the city more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Search for Oklahoma tornado survivors nearly complete
- Rescue workers raced to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives, including those of nine children. more »
- Senate sends Duffy expense audit for 2nd internal review
- The Senate decided to send Senator Mike Duffy's audit report back to its internal committee for a second review, despite objections from the Liberal Senate leader, who argued the RCMP should be tasked with the job. more »
- Kids from levelled Oklahoma schools recount deadly tornado
- Children from two Oklahoma schools levelled Monday by a powerful tornado are recounting what it was like to survive the "loud" and "scary" twister, while rescuers near the end of their search for any other remaining survivors or bodies. more »
- Only 1 set of human remains found at Millard farm, police say
- Hamilton police have confirmed that they are dealing with only a single set of human remains at the Waterloo region farm of Dellen Millard. more »
- Rob Ford faces more calls to address crack allegations
- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford went back to work after a holiday weekend, but he wasn't talking about an alleged video that two published reports say shows him smoking what appears to be a crack pipe. more »
- Driver too drunk to stand, says mom of toddler killed on patio
- Dozens tricked by fools gold scam
- Wildfires in Strathcona County and Spruce Grove
- Edmonton driver, 62, charged in boy's patio death
- Edmonton's Mayor Stephen Mandel bows out
- Children driven around too much, Canadian report suggests
- Oklahoma tornado brings back memories of Black Friday
- Stunt victim was about to be married, attend U of A
- Edmonton man runs into traffic, killed by car
