Heather Wright/The Independent

St. Clair Township Mayor Jeff Agar wants to see local fire departments dispatched more often when there are long wait-times for paramedics.

Agar brought the issue to Lambton County Council July 2 after talking to a Port Lambton resident. He had a visitor to his home who recently had an operation. The wound started bleeding.

“They were really scared, so he made the 911 call and they were going to send an ambulance, so the ambulance was going to be about 25 minutes,” Agar told The Independent.

The homeowner, Agar said, told the dispatchers “I have a fire station like two minutes from my door. Why can’t you dispatch them out? They’re not doctors, but at least they can help. And it was ‘no, no, can do.’”

The paramedics did arrive eventually and the man is recovering now. But it prompted Agar to request a review of the tiered-response system.

“This is not a criticism of our paramedics or dispatch staff…Our concern is what happens to residents in rural areas when ambulance response times are significantly delayed or when a call is not deemed life-threatening,” Agar told councillors.

He wants to see local firefighters called out.

“We’re not asking firefighters to replace paramedics or provide advanced medical care, we’re just asking whether they cannot be notified to provide basic assistance, first patient monitoring, scene safety, reassurance, and updated information to dispatch while awaiting for the EMS.”

Agar says right now, they don’t even get the call for help in those situations.

Paramedic Chief Steven Turner said normally firefighters respond to life-threatening situations. But he said firefighters could also be called out to non-urgent calls if that’s what St. Clair Township officials want.

He added the paramedics could also look at dispatching firefighters only when there will be a significant delay.
Turner said one of the challenges would be Port Lambton is also covered by Wallaceburg paramedics which could cause issues.

Agar thinks dispatching firefighters may be a good solution to meet a need.

“They would love to be able to respond and help out, and they don’t even get the call now,” he said.
Additional calls could add more cost to the firefighting budget, Agar says that’s okay “if it’s going to help our residents.”

He added “it wouldn’t be that many times that something like this would happen.”

Agar says the paramedic chief has already contacted St. Clair’s fire chief about a possible increase in service.

“I’m glad to see that people actually take a heart to stuff, and especially with your health, like that could have been catastrophic for that poor guy.”