Latest news with #AmbulanceNewBrunswick
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
New Brunswick woman dies after two-vehicle crash in Burtts Corner
A 61-year-old woman from Burtts Corner, N.B., has died after a two-vehicle collision in the community last week. The RCMP, Keswick Valley Fire Department and Ambulance New Brunswick responded to the crash on Route 104 around 11:21 a.m. Friday. Police say the driver and passenger from one vehicle were taken to hospital. The RCMP provided an update Tuesday, stating the passenger has since died from her injuries. The driver in the other vehicle was not injured. Police did not release any additional details about the crash. Investigators are asking anyone who witnessed the collision, or who may have dash-cam footage of the crash, to contact the Keswick RCMP at 506-357-4300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
27-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Will keeping paramedics close to home improve local response times? Medavie wants to find out
Ambulance New Brunswick is extending a pilot project that aims to improve response times in the rural communities of Port Elgin, Fords Mills and Cap-Pelé.
CBC
28-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
Neguac firefighters help deliver baby when ambulance wasn't available
Social Sharing When paramedics were delayed getting to a call last weekend on the Acadian Peninsula, two firefighters jumped in to help a woman giving birth. "It's special, it's quite an achievement," said Neguac Deputy Fire Chief Bernard Comeau in French in an interview with Radio-Canada. He and his colleague Travis Strang responded to the call. Comeau said he is proud of the help they provided, but admits that this type of call is outside his professional scope — and very stressful. "This is not the first time that we have responded to medical calls. We have the necessary training to do so, but it also requires the willingness of firefighters to respond to this type of call. It's a big responsibility." Firefighters helping more often Comeau said the paramedics arrived on scene about 40 minutes after the 911 call was made, and that he and his colleague worked with paramedics once they arrived to tend to the newborn. While he is clear to put no blame on the paramedics, Comeau said firefighters having to respond to medical calls is a growing problem. "Someone has to do something. At the end of the day, it's the citizens who pay," Comeau said. "The government has to ensure that the service is provided." While firefighters have good medical training, Comeau said there's a limit to what they can do. He said they also have limited access to specialized medical equipment in their vehicles. "One day, I would hate to see a firefighter have to respond to a medical call while there is a house burning on the other side of our district. It would be disastrous," Comeau said. According to Ambulance New Brunswick's website, the targeted response time in rural areas is 22 minutes or less, 90 per cent of the time. Radio-Canada asked Medavie, which manages Ambulance New Brunswick, for comment on Comeau's rescue and did not immediately receive a response. Not a new problem, mayor says Ambulance response times in the region are not a new problem, said Neguac Mayor Georges Savoie, who has highlighted the issue several times. "It's not the first time. It's an old problem," Savoie said in French in an interview with Radio-Canada. "This is another instance that confirms the problem with Ambulance N.B., which is not always present in the area." Neguac has its own ambulance station. However, the district it covers is large and paramedics are sometimes called to other nearby areas, Savoie said. "Our ambulance is sometimes moved to cover ambulances in Bathurst. It doesn't make sense," he said. "The same thing is happening everywhere in the province, ambulances are being moved because there aren't enough of them." Savoie also doesn't blame the paramedics, but the system, adding that delays to unload patients at hospitals can also take up time. He hopes to discuss the problem with the Acadian Peninsula Regional Service Commission, he said. Last week, three associations of firefighters, municipalities and paramedics appealed to the province, demanding reform of paramedic services. They spoke of long-standing structural problems, excessively long response times and the lack of financial resources devoted to the service in rural regions. Premier Susan Holt said she was in favour of changing the system, but did not give any concrete solutions. The provincial ambulance service contract is up for renewal in 2027.
CBC
09-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
Saint John police responding to fewer medical calls to test efficiency
Saint John police are testing whether responding to fewer medical calls will improve efficiency and resource use within the force. The pilot program, which began Feb. 1 and will run for a year, will see 911 dispatchers using a set of criteria to determine whether police need to respond to a medical call. Right now, Emergency Medical Services, Saint John police and Saint John fire all respond to medical calls. According to a release by Saint John police, the approach results in "overlapping responses" and can pull police resources away from other policing responsibilities and create inefficiencies. "We want to be sure that if we're going to medical calls, they're the ones we need to go to," Matthew Weir, a sergeant with the force, said in an interview. "Certainly the calls that require the police, anything that is criminal in nature, anything where there's a safety concern, we're still going to be going to." Police will also still respond to incidents if they are closer to the scene than Ambulance New Brunswick or the city's fire department. If paramedics treat a patient who becomes violent and aggressive, police will still get involved. The program was designed in collaboration with Ambulance New Brunswick and Saint John fire, according to the force. Neither of those organizations responded to interview requests. Weir said medical calls, which range from heart attacks and seizures to suicide attempts and overdoses, have have increased in recent years — especially overdoses. "We've seen an increase in those. There's no two ways about that, he said. "The run of the day I sit here and I have my radio on as I'm doing work, and I can hear the officers on the road responding to a lot more overdose calls than we would have in the past." Dispatchers will mostly be deciding whether police should attend a medical call based on the new criteria, Weir said. Mary Ann Campbell, a psychology professor at University of New Brunswick in Saint John and the director of the school's Centre for Criminal Justice Studies and Policing Research, has been working with Saint John police on critical incident response training. She said with more calls coming into 911, use of police resources is a balancing act. "Do we want them at medical calls where there isn't a whole lot for them to do, along with the other responders that go to those, or do we want them to go to and be available for responding to the domestic assaults, to the break and enters, to the thefts and all these other kinds of things that are really in the lane for a police officer to respond to?" she said. Campbell's understanding is mental health calls are not considered medical calls in this context. When asked specifically about whether mental health calls are included in the pilot program, Weir said officers will rely on the expertise of dispatchers.
