Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise as a follow-up to my Member’s statement earlier today, which put into light last week’s devastating deadly highway crash near Fort Providence. However, before I proceed, I wish to once again indicate our prayers to all families involved.
I realize there is still an RCMP investigation involved with this. However, my questions today do not deal with this accident, but more importantly deal with the level of first responder care, patient immobilization, dispatch, medical support and transport.
Of course, I realize that there are really three Ministers involved with such questioning: the Minister of Transportation, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and the Minister of Health and Social Services. Therefore, today I will begin my questions with the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Can the Minister of Health and Social Services describe the role of medical travel in the event of a highway or road accident that requires immediate triage, patient immobilization and medical support? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have the information here that specifically provides the role of the whole medical travel area, the medevac area. What I know about that so far is that the medical travel, essentially, is taking people from the communities into a medical point where they need to go to get a service and that could be done through a medevac or it could be done through regular medical travel. But I don’t have any information indicating that we have to go away from the outside of the range of where there might be some ground ambulance service and how we go and get those people. I don’t have that information with me. Thank you.
I appreciate the Minister’s response. Can the Minister indicate what protocol or what algorithm of care is used by medical travel to make decisions of highway air ambulance patient extraction, and is this protocol communicated with all levels of NWT first responders such as RCMP and fire departments across the Northwest Territories?
Again, if there’s an accident and someone is in an accident that is on a highway that is out of one of the communities and it’s not something covered by medical travel or medevac services, as for the information I have, I’m not familiar with what the protocol is for getting people on the highways for such an accident as this. The first responders recognize that we’re trying to put regulations in to add emergency medical services in the medical professional umbrella legislation so that we can have that, so that we can have ambulance services where people would be qualified and insurable to be able to do that kind of work on the highway.
Can the Minister of Health and Social Services also indicate what criteria are used by medical travel when making a decision to abort a mission for highway air ambulance patient extraction?
All calls on medical travel, whether it be medevacs or medical travel, are made by a physician. If a physician has made a decision that they are going to be able to get to the patient quicker through another avenue, that may be a reason for aborting a medical travel or medevac. If we’re talking about something that’s outside of a community, not moving from one point within a community to a point where an individual can get medical travel, then I’m not familiar with why or what the protocol is to abort such a trip.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the limited information and criteria provided today by the Minister of Health and Social Services, it is clear that the public and Members need a better understanding on the role of medical travel in highway and air ambulance situations. Will the Minister of Health and Social Services commit to a proper inquiry of the role of medical travel in situations of highway air ambulance call events, and will the Minister report and table these findings to this House?
I’m not sure I would commit to doing an inquiry, but I think we could check out, to keep it simple, to determine whether or not it’s our responsibility to go on to the highways through the Medical Travel Policy, medical travel to be able to go on the highway and get people through that service or if we’re using the system where we are trying to enhance certain ground ambulance services and key strategic communities throughout the North. I’m not sure if I could call for a public inquiry, but I could get that information and find out how this process works and get back to the Members.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
