Chestermere Fire Services joins AHS Medical First Response Program

Chestermere Fire Services has joined the Alberta Health Services Medical First Response (MFR) program.
The program creates a multi-level provincial standard of care, streamlines the transfer of care between services and provides increased medical oversight and training opportunities.
“Chestermere Fire Services has, does, and will continue to provide excellent medical response for residents in Chestermere,” said Chestermere Fire Services (CFS) Chief Brian Pomrenke.
He said that residents and patients in the community won’t notice any changes as CFS has been practicing at the enhanced standard first aid level of care and will be continuing at that level as they enter into the MFR program.
Firefighters will continue to respond to all kinds of medical emergencies from complaints of abdominal pain, to pregnancy and child birth, to traumatic emergencies.
“We are looking after basic life safety, it’s a very broad range,” said Pomrenke.
The advantages of the MFR program include the potential for more enhanced care and the ability to move up to increased levels of care in the future should CFS and city council deem it necessary.
“There’s levels of service within the program that a paramedic will provide verses a first responder,” he said.
Pomrenke can see the potential for increased levels of medical service to be added as the fire service grows and changes in response to the future growth of Chestermere.
CFS members will also have access to Alberta Health Services training programs and digital materials. These new resources will another tool for the maintenance of firefighter’s medical skills.
“I think it will enhance a little bit more of what we can potentially provide for our patients,” said Pomrenke.
This closer partnership with AHS means that as medical science advances and care protocols change, CFS will get these changes and training at the same time as AHS Emergency Medical Services personnel.
“This helps bring that stuff to the forefront very quickly,” he said.
Another advantage to joining the MFR program is that the patient care reports created every time CFS members responded to a medical emergency will now be passed on seamlessly to AHS.
Additionally, the patient care reports will now be held and archived by the province instead of the city.
“There’s a level of extras that we benefit with Alberta Health Services beyond what we’re already giving,” said Pomrenke.
All of these changes will improve the way that AHS and firefighters work together to provide medical care to residents.
“I think being able to train together more, whether it’s our protocols that we’re doing some of the advancements that come on online training it gives us a way to integrate what we do and how we do it and how we hand over the patient care to the next level of service,” he said.
While most of the advantages to the MFR program primarily be visible behind the scenes, the potential for enhancing care is already being explored for CFS response to drug overdoses.
“We’re not removed from some of the drug and overdose things that happen in larger cities,” said Pomrenke, “we see overdoses, not on a regular basis but we do see them.”
One of the advanced levels of service now available to CFS, once training is completed, is the ability to carry and administer the drug naloxone for opioid overdoses.
The cost associated with the MFR program is negligible.
“With our current equipment, with the current training the cost to Chestermere residents is minimal,” said Pomrenke.
If the decision is made to increase services by carrying naloxone or other new equipment, there would be costs associated to those purchases however is service is maintained at current levels there is no added cost to the MFR program.