Emergency Medical Service (EMS)
EMS delivers frontline 911 pre hospital
care to our community for:

sudden illness (heart attack, stroke, diabetic
reactions, asthma etc.)

traumatic injuries (motor vehicle collisions,
burns, falls, sporting injuries etc.)
EMS Staff includes:

34 full time Paramedics – 9 are Advanced Care
(ACP) and 25 are Primary Care Paramedics (PCP)

37 part time Paramedics (8 ACP and 29 PCP)

3 Paramedic Supervisors
(two operational and one for quality assurance and
education)

1 Administration Assistant

EMS Manager / Deputy Chief (Keith Kirkpatrick)

EMS Director / Chief (David Guilbault)
EMS Vehicles
The vehicles we use are
known as Emergency
Response Units (ERU)
and Ambulances. Those
vehicles respond to
medical emergencies in
the community bringing
Primary or Advanced Care
Paramedics.
EMS Stats
CKL EMS responds to approximately 12,000 calls per
year:

4,200 life threatening emergencies (lights and siren response)


3,500 urgent requests for help


500 emergency transfers (moving patients from Ross Memorial hospital
to specialized medical facilities out side of CKL)

300 non urgent transfers – EMS rarely provides this service as it is now
done by the Community Care non Urgent Transfer Service

120 emergency trips from the community airport to Ross Memorial
Hospital and back to move critically ill patients for the air ambulances
CKL EMS Stats (cont)

4000 standbys (moving ambulances and or emergency response units into
geographical positions to cover areas of concern)
The majority of the standbys are to cover our own communities in CKL. Other
standbys are to provide Paramedics at incidents that support Police or Fire
Services at scenes with a potential for people to be injured. We also provide
EMS standbys for neighboring communities as requested and they cover for us
in reciprocal agreements.

When you see an EMS ambulance or response vehicle sitting on the side of the
road, you will now know that they are providing standby coverage to ensure a
quick EMS response for the specific area they are in.
Modern EMS
…more than a fast ride to the hospital…
Kawartha Lakes EMS provides both
Primary and Advance Care Paramedics
The Primary Care Paramedics have medical delegation to perform,
Basic Life Support (professional responder CPR, airway management,
oxygen therapy, basic trauma life support), semi automatic defibrillation (for
the management of sudden cardiac arrest), symptom relief medications (i.e.
nitroglycerin, aspirin, glucagon, ventolin, and adrenalin) – these medications
are used for the management of heart attack, diabetic reactions, asthma and
allergic reaction.
Advance Care Paramedics are delegated to perform all of the procedures
outlined for the primary level as well as, Advanced Life Support (advanced
cardiac life support, advanced assessment and critical interventions) ,
Intubation (placing a special tube directly into a persons windpipe), chest
decompression (inserting a needle into a persons chest to re inflate a
collapsed lung), intravenous (insertion of a needle into a vien), medications
and fluids are put through the intravenous for numerous situations (cardiac
arrest, heart attack, respiratory conditions, diabetes, seizure conditions, shock
care for trauma and burns), electrical therapy (manual defibrillation,
cardioversion and cardiac pacing).
ornge (spelled correctly)
Is the delivery of Critical Care Paramedics to our community through the
ornge patient care system (ambulances, helicopters and planes). Most
citizens understand ornge through the air ambulance they see landing at
large motor vehicle collisions. These paramedics are very sophisticated
and perform all the skill set of both the primary and advanced care
providers as well as:

Critical surgical procedures, administration of intensive care
medications, use of infusion pumps and intravenous drips, and
administration of blood and blood products
Today’s Paramedic
Today's Paramedic (cont)
Today's Paramedic is a well trained emergency health care provider.

Primary Care Paramedic certificate program is two years at
community college (2000 hours) – local colleges that offer this
program are Sir Sandford Fleming, Durham, Centennial and Humber
Colleges.

Advanced Care Paramedic program is one additional year at a post
certificate approved College (1000 hours) – local colleges that offer
this program are - Durham and Humber College.

Critical Care Paramedic program is one more additional year by the
medical director that oversees the ornge program in intensive care
and flight medicine (1000 hours).
Paramedics are a Community Life Line
Paramedics are a community Life
Line (cont)
Paramedics provide:

Life saving care
 Compassion and empathy to those in need
 Comfort and pain management
 Public education in preparedness (safety,
first aid, CPR and Public Access
Defibrillation)
Primary Zones
Primary Zones (cont)

We have paramedics stationed in three primary zones:
Lindsay - 89 St. David Street – three 12 hour day time
ambulances (6 paramedics) and two 12 hour night shift
ambulances (4 paramedics).
The third ambulance in Lindsay is moved to other areas of the
community when the 911 call volume can be predicted to
increase (i.e. Fenelon Falls area on summer weekends).
Bobcaygeon – 1 Duke Street - one ambulance 24 hours per day
(4 paramedics – 2 for day shift and 2 for night shift).
Fenelon Falls – 1 Industrial Drive - one ambulance 24 hours per
day (4 paramedics – 2 for day shift and 2 for night shift).
Secondary Zones
Are areas in the community where we position
EMS resources (response vehicles or
ambulances) when we can predict response
times may increase due to:




911 call volume (i.e. summer weekends)
Community events (i.e. parades, fairs and
festivals)
Severe weather or road closures
The most common secondary zones are
Oakwood, Manvers area, Omemee and
Coboconk
Community Involvement
EMS is a vital part of the community and our
paramedics are involved in championing many
important causes including:

Paramedics in The Park (annual event fundraising for various
community charities)
 Heart and Stroke Foundation endeavors (fundraising, CPR
education and safe defibrillation deployment)
 Community Care (providing ongoing support and patient
transport expertise)
 Supporting the troops (pilgrimages to repatriation ceremonies,
wearing red on Fridays)
 Participating in CKL Police initiatives (cops for cancer and the
polar plunge)
 St. John ambulance (donation of ambulance and equipment)
 Support of the Food Source and A Place Called Home
Community Education and
Preparedness
Start A Heart
EMS is managing and working with community partners
(i.e. Heart and Stroke, Ross Memorial Hospital, and the Fire
Department) on an aggressive Public Access Defibrillation
(PAD) program. This program is called “Start a Heart”.
Today we have 60 PAD sites in the community and our
paramedics have taught about 5,000 citizens over the past
three years in CPR and the use of a public access
defibrillator (PAD). We encourage groups who are hosting
large public events to contact us so we can help make sure
the event is safe by planning for medical emergencies before
they happen. EMS has several loaner PAD machines for
citizens to borrow for a nominal donation back into the
maintenance of the “Start-A-Heart Program”.
Heart Hero

EMS Paramedics have
developed a Heart Hero
program designed to
empower children to teach
adults the live saving skill
of CPR. This is another
initiative where
community donations are
welcomed to empower our
youth to truly be leaders!
Teaching the Next Generation
Cardiac Arrest Saves

Pictured are cardiac arrest
saves from 2008 and 2009
in which Paramedics played
a crucial role.

Obviously Paramedics do a
lot more than cardiac arrest
management, however,
these saves are the most
dramatic of EMS calls.
EMS’s Recent Past
EMS’s Recent Past (cont)
EMS became organized in Ontario about 40 years ago and
standardization of vehicles and equipment as well as basic life
support education became important. The first Advanced Care
Paramedic programs started with:



Toronto air ambulance (1977), land ambulances in Oshawa
(1979), and then Toronto / Hamilton (1984)
The first Primary Paramedic program was in Windsor in 1989
(defibrillation and symptom relief medications)
CKL had its first EMS defibrillator program in 1989 and
Primary Care Paramedics by 1993. The first Advanced Care
Paramedics hit the streets of Lindsay in 1997
EMS and the Future




EMS is now being revaluated as to it’s future and
questions are being such as:
Can paramedics provide more care for patients in
the home?
Does more paramedic care result in shorter
hospital stays?
Can some patients be treated by a Paramedic and
left in their home?
Can we move patients directly from their homes or
scenes to specialized hospitals (this is already
occurring for stroke patients)?
Historical EMS Data


Historical data directs EMS in community preparedness and locating
paramedics in areas where medical emergencies can be predicated. One
example of this is placing Paramedics on bikes so they can reach people in
congested areas (i.e. parades, fairs, festivals etc.).
Research statistics predict an increased need for Paramedics when 1,000 or
more people, with an average age of 50, gather. Our bike paramedics have
treated minor and serious patients at every event that have been deployed to
in 2009.
The End