ON THE FRONTLINES
Since air ambulances are a necessary service for smaller and remote communities, they weren’t impacted too drastically in terms of the amount of flights they were doing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Air ambulance challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic
A
ir ambulances are a necessary
requires the need for specialized PPE
allocation for ground and air ambulance.
service for Albertans, especially
use and social distancing, patients are
The PCC is typically only put in place
those who live in rural
now being cared for in a single-patient
during emergency events such as the Fort
environment.
McMurray wildfires or the Calgary floods.
In addition to the flight loads, the
On the ground, in-person training for their
pandemic has also changed the daily work
services became even more important to
paramedics had to pivot with the need
routines of paramedics and pilots in terms
supply residents with medical help in an
for social distancing. This included online
of the personal protective equipment (PPE)
emergency manner.
Zoom training and simulation videos,
they wear, as well as the added cleaning
which replaced face-to-face interaction.
Since air ambulances are a necessary
procedures that are currently in place.
Huckabee says that they hope to resume
service for smaller and remote
“EMS throughout Alberta, including air
in-person training soon.
communities, they weren’t impacted
ambulance, have cared for many patients
too drastically in terms of the amount
As for flight simulation training, pre-
who are COVID-19 positive, and our
of flights they were doing. From April
pandemic, their pilots travelled to the U.S.
paramedics pride themselves on the high
2020 to February 2021, Alberta Health
for this training, however, with border
standard of care that they provide,” says
Services (AHS) Air Ambulance Operations
Gordon Bates, associate executive director
closures and travel restrictions in place,
reported 6,820 patients, whereas from
AHS Provincial Air Ambulance Operations
April 2019 to March 2020 they transported
and IFT Strategy, adding that at the initial
8,094 patients. AHS EMS Air Ambulance
onset of the pandemic, they assigned two
Now that there has been a vaccine
provides medevac services to patients who
of their resources to respond to all suspect
approved in Canada, Bates says that
require medical monitoring or care during
COVID or COVID-positive patients. “We
since early January 2021, paramedics and
long-distance transport.
demonstrated that medevac transport with
medevac pilots have been eligible for
proper PPE of a COVID patient is safe and
receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, and many
we have since allowed all of our medevac
have already been vaccinated.
resources to transport this patient
“We are very pleased to say that many
population.”
of our frontline paramedics and pilots
Ambulance Operations, says that they can
During the onset of the pandemic, AHS EMS
have already received both doses of the
accommodate up to three patients on a
initiated the EMS Provincial Coordination
vaccination,” says Bates. “PPE use and social
fixed-wing aircraft considering the level
Centre (PCC), which is set up to be the
distancing rules continue to apply, but
of care required and their pick up and
source of truth for information sharing,
there is an added layer of protection for our
destination routing. Since the pandemic
equipment procurement, and resource
frontline workers.”
communities and are unable to access immediate hospital care. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, these
Prior to the pandemic, AHS EMS Air Ambulance coordinated efficiencies by performing multi-patient transports. Jamie Huckabee, manager of AHS Provincial Air
10
ALBERTA AIRPORTS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION • 2021
they have switched to on-wing training for their pilots.
