Ground ambulance

The responsibility for ground ambulance services was transferred from municipalities to Alberta Health Services in a move designed to improve patient care, accountability and efficiency. The transition took effect April 1, 2009.

More than 50 service providers (operators) supply ground ambulance services throughout Alberta. There are an average of 260,000 trips per year, involving more than 500 ambulance vehicles and 3,000 ambulance care attendants. Ground ambulance services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year.

Ground ambulances are best known for responding to emergency situations. While onsite, medical service crews provide pre-hospital health care stabilizing the medical condition of people who are injured or sick. Patients are then transported, when appropriate, to the nearest appropriate health care facility.

Levels of ambulance service in Alberta

Three levels of emergency ambulance service are provided in Alberta. They are:

• Emergency Medical Responder;
• Basic Life Support; and
• Advanced Life Support.

The Emergency Health Services Act, Staff, Vehicle and Equipment Regulation, Appendix #10/99 specifies how an ambulance must be equipped and staffed to qualify as offering services at an Emergency Medical Responder, Basic Life Support or Advanced Life Support level.

Sections 9.1 through 11 of the Health Disciplines Act, Emergency Medical Technicians Regulation outline what Emergency Medical Responders (EMR), Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and Emergency Medical Technologist Paramedic (EMT-Paramedic) are qualified and permitted to do within their scope of practice.

In addition to emergency ambulance services, ground ambulances provide interfacility transfer services. Each year thousands of Albertans are transported by ground ambulance from one hospital to another, where they can receive a higher level of care.

These trips are arranged by the sending hospital and they are paid for by Alberta Health Services.

Who pays when a ground ambulance is called in an emergency?

It is important to understand that ground and/or air ambulance services are not insured services under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Act. In Alberta, the patient must pay for pre-hospital transportation provided by an emergency ground ambulance service with some notable exceptions.

Seniors

Alberta Health and Wellness pays for ambulance services for seniors through a plan administered by Alberta Blue Cross. This plan will pay ambulance fees, at a maximum rate set by the Minister of Health and Wellness, on behalf of Albertans aged 65 and over. Seniors enrolled in the plan do not receive a bill for ambulance services.

• Read about coverage for seniors

Worker's Compensation Board

When a patient is a worker who has been injured on the job, their employer's Worker's Compensation coverage will pay emergency ambulance expenses. Workers injured on the job are sometimes transported to health care facilities by emergency conveyance vehicles that are not part of the province's Ground Ambulance Program. These ambulances are operated by, or contracted by, employers and are not licensed by Alberta Health and Wellness.

First Nations

Health Canada pays the user fee for emergency medical services on behalf of First Nations people.

Income support

Alberta Employment and Immigration pays the cost of emergency ambulance services for Albertans receiving income support and for eligible individuals and families with limited incomes.

Non-group supplementary insurance

Many Albertans who are not covered under one of the scenarios above avoid the possibility of unexpected emergency ambulance charges by purchasing supplemental medical insurance such as the Alberta Blue Cross Non-Group Coverage Plan or other plans offered by insurance providers.

• Read about the non-group coverage plan

Inter-hospital transfer

Albertans transported by ground ambulance from one hospital to another, where they can receive a higher level of care, will not receive bills for the costs involved.

• The cost of these inter-facility transfers are covered when a patient's physician recommends the transfer as medically necessary.

Ground ambulance services for travellers

All Albertans, including seniors, are responsible for the cost of pre-hospital health care provided by ambulance services outside of Alberta because those services are not covered by inter-provincial reciprocal health care agreements.

It is important to be aware that, while some supplemental medical insurance plans assist with the cost of emergency ambulance services while the plan member is in Alberta, they do not necessarily cover those costs when the plan member is outside the province.

• IMPORTANT: Albertans are strongly advised to purchase travel insurance that will assist with the cost of ground and/or air ambulance services whenever they leave Alberta.

Those who purchase supplemental insurance, especially those who are travelling outside of Canada, are strongly encouraged to ensure their benefits include "repatriation" to cover the cost of ambulance transport back to Alberta if it becomes necessary.

Alberta ground ambulance services do not normally provide any services outside of the province. This means an Alberta ambulance will not travel out of the province to bring home an Albertan who has been injured or becomes ill outside of Alberta.

Ensuring public safety

Alberta Health and Wellness plays a large role in ensuring that ground ambulance services in the province are safe. An Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Consultant periodically visits each ambulance service provider in the province to confirm that they are complying with the legislation, regulations and policies established by the Minister of Health and Wellness.

• During visits at ground ambulance services, the consultant inspects ambulances and emergency medical equipment; completes a pharmaceutical and supply inventory; and reviews the mechanical inspection reports for each ambulance supplied by the service provider.

For more information about the Alberta Ground Ambulance Program, please contact Alberta Health and Wellness in Edmonton at 780-422-9654. To call toll-free within Alberta, dial 310-0000, then dial 780-422-9654 when prompted.