Emergency services will be expanded in Manitoba’s northern and rural regions with the deployment of advanced care paramedics (APCs). Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara made the announcement Wednesday. Portage la Prairie, Flin Flon, Dauphin, Ashern, Neepawa, Swan River, and Lac du Bonnet will receive 14 “clinical service leads” with advanced care paramedic training. “We are training them. We are hiring them. We’re giving them jobs in rural Manitoba because they really are invaluable,” Asagwara said. They noted these APCs don’t transport patients but respond to medical emergencies and offer a high level of care on the scene before the patient is taken to the hospital. Shared Health said the decision not only helps rural Manitobans receive care but also allows the paramedics to advance their careers. “We’ve seen the needs of the public continue to grow, so having a higher scope of care and the ability to provide the type of care people would receive in an emergency room to our communities is vitally important,” said Bryan Collier, advanced care paramedic and clinical service leader with Shared Health, in a news release. The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals (MAHCP) called the decision long overdue. However, MAHCP president Jason Linklater said many paramedic vacancies still exist and aren’t being filled quickly enough. “Shared Health has acted far too slowly to post and fill the many vacancies that already exist after years of paramedic burnout and attrition,” Linklater said in a statement. “They are still not demonstrating an appropriate sense of urgency to repair emergency medical services in Manitoba.”
