The chief of Essex Windsor EMS says a one-time provincial grant will help establish a community paramedics program on Pelee Island.
Bruce Krauter says the $93,000 over two years will cover the cost of a new position to develop the program. That point person will have to gather input from the paramedics' union, the Victorian Order of Nurses, municipal officials and the Ministry of Health.
The idea is to create a service that enhances the work of nurses already stationed on the island. "Paramedics will stay within their scope of practice, taking blood pressures, EKGs, blood sugar tests," says Krauter. "It will more free up the nurses on the island so that they may be able to work with more complex patients."
"Because the Pelee Island workload is somewhat low," Krauter says some of the funding will also help enhance referral services on the mainland.
Under the application, a new program will have to be economically sustainable. Krauter says once the provincial funding dries up, the EMS will look to reduce off-load delay expenditures and re-prioritize some spending within its budget.
