City council hears EFRS responding to more medical calls

Edmonton’s firefighters have a new plan to reduce the number of medical calls they’re sent to — while Edmonton’s mayor suggests billing the province when fire crews respond to a call.

“They’re unable to do their work, and Edmonton taxpayers end up paying through their property taxes for something they’re not responsible for,” explained Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.

Council heard a report from Edmonton Fire Rescue Services Monday morning showing an alarming increase in the number of medical calls they’re first on-scene for.

Last year, EFRS says nearly 70 per cent of the calls they received were medical, but nearly 24,000 of those calls were not immediately life-threatening.

In 2023 alone, Edmonton fire crews responded to over 10,000 overdose or poisoning calls. In 2022 that number was just below 6,700.

Edmonton’s mayor says property owners are paying for it, but maybe the province should be.

“Maybe we need to send them the bill every time a fire rescue call is responding to an EMS call. Province would pay for EMS, but they’re not paying for fire service.”

The provincial budget tabled late last month provides 730 million to increase EMS capacity in Alberta.

CityNews reached out to the Health Ministry for response to Mayor Sohi’s comments, but have not had a response at this time.

For now, EFRS is taking a page from counterparts in Calgary. Implementing a plan that includes increased coordination withEMS services for medical calls, seeing fire crews only dispatched to life-threatening calls or when EMS needs them.