Alberta Health Services is fundingĀ two new ambulances in Lethbridge, which are set to be operational on May 1. The city says the addition will help to improve EMS response times and keep rural ambulances in their own communities.
“The City of Lethbridge has been working collaboratively with AHS during the past few months to add more ambulances into Lethbridge,ā says Greg Adair, Chief of Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services. “We are looking forward to these additional EMS resources in the coming months as these two additional ambulances will bring EMS services to the people of Lethbridge faster.”
The ambulances will run 12 hours a day, seven days a week and will be able to provide Advanced Life Support, which is one of the highest levels of care in an ambulance. AHS is providing $304,954 in new funding for the ambulances. They will also create more than 10 full time jobs.
“Adding these life-saving resources to the community of Lethbridge is another example of how we are collaborating with our partners and communities to make our EMS system more responsive to the needs of Albertans,” say Minister of Health Jason Copping says.Ā “This is part of our health action plan aimed at improving access to emergency services and bringing response times down. We are supporting our rural and urban communities.ā
The ambulances are in addition to 19 new ambulances that have going into service last year and were funded through the $16 million included in the current provincial budget.
“This is great news for our community and for the safety of our residents,” says Mayor Blaine Hyggen. “We are very pleased to be working collaboratively with AHS on this delivery of essential services for Lethbridge.”
