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Toronto EMS

Encyclopedia : T : TO : TOR : Toronto EMS

Toronto Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provides ambulatory and paramedic care for the city of Toronto. Before 1998 it was known as Metro Toronto Ambulance and shortly after as Toronto Ambulance.

Toronto EMS station
Enlarge
Toronto EMS station

Contents

History

Formed in 1975 to replace private operators in Toronto The private ambulance operators were mainly funeral homes, as well as hospitals.

From 1975 to 1998, ambulance service in Metro Toronto were provided by Metro Toronto Ambulance and Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. With amalgamation in 1998, Metro Ambulance became Toronto Ambulance, and later adopted its current name.

As of April 2005, the departments and commissioners were replaced by divisions under the city manager (and deputy managers).

TEMS is now under Emergency Medical Services Division.

Operations

Toronto EMS operates in geographical locations in conjunction with area hospitals.Emergency service headquarters (for both fire and ambulance) is located at 4330 Dufferin St.

A total of 41 stations serves a city of with a population of 3.5 million in an area of 650 square kilometres.

A list of EMS stations in Toronto:

NW

NE SW SE

Fleet

A total of 242 vehicles are in the EMS fleet and 150 are ambulances. There rest are support vehicles (mainly buses and trucks).

A list of vehicles used by EMS:

A type III with the streaking 'A' along the ambulance
Enlarge
A type III with the streaking 'A' along the ambulance

Image of a Tahoe
Enlarge
Image of a Tahoe


Command

John Dean, serving as Commissioner, lead Metro Toronto Ambulance Department from 1975 to 1998. Ron Kelusky served from 1998 to 2003 (as GM of Toronto Ambulance Services). He implemented many of the changes that are seen today, such as the stylish, streaking 'A' along all vehicles. Kelusky is now VP and COO of The Ontario March of Dimes. The current head (as Chief and General Manager) is Bruce Farr.



Staff

TEMS COM LOGO 5.JPG


Toronto EMS has 1,171 members including paramedics and other support staff. 112 are Emergency Medical Dispatchers or EMDs. This number includes Senior Emergency Medical Dispatchers and System Control Supervisors. All EMDs and Supervisors are certified by the National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch (NAEMD).


Toronto EMS is divided into teams:




Toronto EMS has the largest EMS Communications Centre in Canada and uses Tritech VisiCAD computer aided dispatch system. The Toronto EMS Communications Centre planning major redesign to be completed Summer 2007.


Positions In the Communications Centre include:


Call Receiver


All EMDs are trained as Emergency Call Receivers.  Call Receivers are the men and women that answer when 911 is dialed.  Call Receivers will ask where the emergency call is and will also take such information as major intersection, house or apartment number and entry code, telephone number, and the caller's name.  Once this information is gathered, the Call Receivers will ask a specific question to determine the priority of the call.  Call Receivers can also give first-aid, childbirth, CPR, and choking aid instructions.


Dispatcher


Toronto EMS Dispatchers handle hundreds of thousands of calls per year.  The Dispatchers must send Paramedics to emergency, non-emergency, and courtesy calls.  They must also ensure that the city has proper balanced coverage to ensure a quick response by Paramedics, but they must also attempt at workload balancing, arranging for Paramedic lunch breaks, and ensure that emergency calls are handled as quickly as possible


Hospital Coordinators


In 1999, Toronto EMS created the Hospital Coordinator position to help combat the growing hospital delay times for Paramedics.  The goal was to ensure proper distribution of patients.  Over the years, the Coordinator position evolved into two separate jobs: a Hospital Destination Coordinator and a Hospital Clearing Coordinator.  Using the new Patient Distribution System (2004), the Hospital Destination Coordinator will direct Paramedics to area hospitals based on Patient Severity, time since a hospital last received a patient, and for certain patients, repatriation to a hospital that the patient has history with.  The Hospital Clearing Coordinator works with Paramedics to clear them from Hospitals and get them back in service as quickly as possible.


Other positions include:




The Toronto EMS Communications also has a comprehensive training and quality assurance department made up of two certified NAEMD Instructors and other faculty.



See also

Other members of the Toronto's Emergency Services structure consists of:





External links







 





From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.














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