Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) provides Fire and EMS services to the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It operates from 27 Fire stations, 2 stand-alone Ambulance stations, and 3 administration offices across the city. WFPS has two equally important divisions: The Winnipeg Fire Department (WFD) and Winnipeg Emergency Medical Services (WEMS), using a centralized dispatch system.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service
We Hold Thee Safe
Agency overview
Established1882 (Winnipeg Fire Department)
1974 (Winnipeg Ambulance Department)
Annual calls3070 (fire calls for 2011) 111000 (EMS and Fire for 2012)[1]
Employees860 (firefighters) 220 (paramedics) [1]
Staffing166 firefighters on duty
Fire chiefJohn Lane [2]
Facilities and equipment
Stations34[1]
Engines29 [1]
Trucks5 [1]
Squads3 [1]
Rescues6 [1]
Ambulances21
Tenders2 [1]

History

In 1874 the volunteer department was established by local business owners to lower fire insurance costs. In 1882, the City of Winnipeg established the Winnipeg Fire Department, followed by the Winnipeg Ambulance Department in 1974. Prior to 1974, ambulance services were provided by local private ambulance companies. In 1983 the Winnipeg Fire Department introduced the use of first responders to start assisting the Winnipeg Ambulance service on medical calls. As of 2000, both departments amalgamated to form the Emergency Response Service of Winnipeg, which was later renamed as the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Organization's Senior Staff
  • Fire and Paramedic Chief: John Lane
  • Deputy Chief - Operations: Christian Schmidt
  • Deputy Chief - Professional Development: Russ Drohomereski
  • Deputy Chief - Support Services: Tom Wallace
  • Assistant Chief - EMS Operations: Ryan Sneath
  • Assistant Chief - Fire Operations: Ihor Holowczynski
  • Medical Director: Dr. Rob Grierson

Winnipeg Emergency Medical Services (WEMS)
WEMS ambulance
WEMS ambulance with ambulance cot
WEMS MIRV and PACER bicycles

The Winnipeg Emergency Medical Services is the branch of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service that provides paramedic and ambulance emergency patient transport to the citizens of Winnipeg. The service uses a dual response system in which the Winnipeg Fire Department has a licensed Primary Care Paramedic on most fire apparatus who can assist the paramedics on ambulance.[3] WEMS has 25 ambulances, 1 Major Incident Response Vehicle (MIRV),[4] 1 bariatric ambulance,[5] 4 District Medical Supervisors and 1 Superintendent of EMS operations. Since 2002, WEMS operates 1 PACER (Paramedics Active in Community Education and Response) which is a pair of specially outfitted paramedics deployed on bicycles during the summer months (weather and staffing permitting).[6] District Medical Supervisors use chase vehicles to assist paramedics on ambulance with pediatric and high acuity calls and review paramedics' performance for continuous quality improvement.[3] The superintendent oversees all EMS operations and if required can respond as a medical supervisor. WEMS operate out of 3 stand-alone Ambulance stations and 20 of the 27 Fire Stations.

WEMS paramedics include Primary Care Paramedics (PCP), Intermediate Care Paramedics (ICP) and Advance Care Paramedics (ACP). The Intermediate Care Paramedics are unique to WEMS as a training level during the department's in house, nationally accredited, Advance Care Paramedic Program.[3] WEMS paramedics are trained in Advanced Life Support (ALS), Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), and all meet the National Occupational Competency Profile (NOCP) established by the Paramedic Association of Canada (PAC).

As of 2014 WEMS operates on 6 platoons: four 24-hour platoons and two 12-hour "peak" platoons to assist during peak hours with greater call volumes. The four 24-hour platoons each operate 17 full-time ambulances, 2 interfacility patient transfer ambulances, 4 spare ambulances (dependent on staffing levels), 3 District Medical Supervisors, 1 superintendent, 1 MIRV, 1 bariatric ambulance, and 1 PACER. The two 12-hour platoons each operate 8 ambulances, 1 interfacility patient transfer ambulance, and 1 District Medical Supervisor.

Pre-hospital emergency medical services and emergency ambulance transport, like all other health care in Canada is the responsibility of the Provincial Government. The City of Winnipeg operates the Winnipeg Emergency Medical Services as a service purchase agreement to provide these services for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and Shared Health. WEMS is also responsible for providing interfacility patient transport for patients requiring specialty services not offered at the hospital at which they are being treated and repatriate patients to community hospitals. They are assisted by the WRHA Transport Team: Respiratory Therapists with specialized training for transporting ventilated patients or those receiving certain medication infusions. All stable patients not requiring interventions, advanced skills or being repatriated to a Personal Care Home are not transported by WEMS but by Stretcher Service of Manitoba who operate under contract. WEMS also transports patients coming to the city via air ambulance to hospital.

WEMS Community Paramedics

WEMS currently operates 2 award-winning[7] community paramedicine programs: the Main Street Project Paramedic and the Emergency Paramedic In the Community (EPIC).

The Main Street Project is a crisis/drop-in shelter service which offers a drop-in shelter, a chemical detoxification unit, transitional housing and houses the city's Intoxicated Person's Detention Area (IPDA).[8] Since 2009 the Main Street Project Paramedics are responsible for on site assessment and monitoring of all IPDA clients[9] as well as providing a first line access to care for the clients of the drop-in shelter, the detoxification unit and those in the transitional housing unit.[10] The community paramedics at The Main Street projects are on site 24 hours every day. Since October 2013, Main Street Project Paramedics have been offering HIV Point Of Care Testing (POCT) to clients of The Main Street Project and high risk individuals in the community. Since HIV POCT have been offered at The Main Street Project, this site does more Point Of Care Tests than the all other sites in Manitoba offering the test combined.

As of 2013 WEMS added the EPIC program. The EPIC paramedics provide non-transport medical assistance to common 911 callers, the Salvation Army building and other at-risk patients in the community.[10] The EPIC community paramedics run 12 hours per day, every day during daytime and evening hours. In December 2013, the EPIC program was expanded to follow up with at risk individuals in the community after 911 calls. When WFPS Paramedics respond to 911 calls and identify citizens who are at risk, they have he ability to fill out a referral to the EPIC program. The EPIC Paramedics follow up on each referral and help the citizens gain access to proper medical care or other needed resources. Once the needs of the patients are met, the EPIC program tracks these patients to ensure the resources put in place continue to be effective.[11]

Winnipeg Fire Department (WFD)
WFD Engine6 fire truck

The Winnipeg Fire Department operates under the parent organization of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service. A volunteer fire brigade started in 1874 and the Winnipeg Fire Department was created in 1882. It provides fire suppression service, HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) responses,[12] high angle rescue,[13] trench rescue,[14] vehicle extrication,[15] and surface water rescue,[15] as well as assist the Winnipeg Emergency Medical Services branch with pre-hospital patient care.

As of 2011, 29 fire engines, 6 rescues, 5 aerial ladders, 3 squads, 4 District Chief units, and 1 Platoon Chief operate on four 48 hour (2 10 hour shifts, 2 14 hour shifts and then 4 days off) platoons; all units are operational and staffed full-time.[1] WFD also has 2 of the heavy rescue units that assist with technical Rescue, trench Rescue, hazmat, auto extraction, water rescue along with specialty design vehicles, as well as 2 jet boats and several zodiacs for water rescue & water based fire suppression.[14][15]

The Winnipeg Fire Department also offers Child Car Seat inspections to the general public. These inspections require the owner of the child seat to have already installed the seat in the vehicle and to bring it to one of the seven stations at which the service is offered. There, firefighters that have special training in making sure child car seats are fitted safely will inspect the car seat to make sure it is safe for use. If any adjustments are required, they will assist the owner in making the adjustments and educate them on how to properly secure the child seat.[16]

WFPS Communication Centre

The WFPS Communication Centre is responsible for receiving emergency calls and dispatching of all ambulance and fire apparatus for the City of Winnipeg. The City of Winnipeg operates a centralized 9-1-1 emergency call service for both the Winnipeg Police Service and WFPS. All calls are received by the Winnipeg Police Communication Division who passes on all non-police calls over to the WFPS Communication Centre. The WFPS Communication Operators are responsible for triaging all EMS and Fire calls received at the centre and dispatching all emergency, non-emergency and pre-booked Interfacility Transfer calls. Since 2007, WFPS has been using a central dispatch for both EMS and Fire calls.

All pre-booked emergency and non-emergency Interfacily Transfers are handled by the Interfacility Transfer (IFT) division. The IFT dispatchers are responsible for triaging and assigning this workload to the WEMS Transfer division, the WRHA Transport Team and Stretcher Service of Manitoba.

The Communication Centre uses the AcuityPoint Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) System developed by Lynx Graphics which integrates the enhanced 9-1-1 Sentinel telephone system (E911). This gives Communication Operators the advantage of receiving immediate information on the caller such as the caller's location and phone number. This information, along with all other information obtained by the operator is relayed to all EMS vehicles' Electronic Patient Care Reports (E-PCR). The Communication Centre relays all dispatch information electronically to Station computers, the crew's Tough Book computers (E-PCR) in the field and over the air via a Harris P-25 trunked radio network.

To facilitate dispatching of the closest appropriate unit, EMS vehicles and Fire apparatus are equipped with and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) System. This along with electronic status heads in every vehicle reporting unit responding, on-scene and transporting times help the dispatchers keep accurate tracking of all units whereabouts, status and availability.

The Communication Centre is staffed by a minimum of 7 Operators and 1 Communication Center Shift Supervisor (CCSS) on four 24 hours platoons, dispatching WEMS and WFD. All Communication Operators are responsible to taking 9-1-1 calls, confirming the address and phone number of the emergency, obtaining all specific relevant information about the call, establishing through security questions if the scene is safe for field providers to attend and establishing the priority of the call (emergency or non-emergency). The 9-1-1 call taker then forwards the information to the EMS or Fire dispatchers (or both) who are responsible for assigning the call to the appropriate crews/units as well as monitor all vehicles in the field. Meanwhile, the call taker may stay on the line until help arrives on-scene and will give pre-arrival instructions to the patient. These include assisting/instructing the caller with performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), or instructing appropriate chest pain patients to self-administer Aspirin (ASA). The WFPS also is responsible for the operations of the WRHA's Inter Facility Transport system. The booking and dispatching of ambulances and stretcher car services in the movement of patients between care facilities within the city's 6 hospitals and many clinics. This secondary dispatch center is staffed 24/7 with 3-4 communication operators who interchange with the 911 center on a rotational basis.

All Communication Operators are at minimum trained and licensed Emergency medical responders (EMR), and receive intensive in-house training. All Operators have obtained the National Academy of Emergency Dispatch System's Emergency Telecommunicator (ETC) Certification, Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) Certification and Emergency Fire Dispatcher (EFD) Certification. They are also certified in use of the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) and Fire Priority Dispatch System (FPDS). Both of these dispatch systems are used internationally and guarantee consistent and accurate assessment of the caller's emergency as well as consistent dispatching. These system help alleviate problems where the caller may exaggerate or downplay the emergency, and provides the call taker with a consistent approach to every call. All Communication Operators go through ongoing training with these systems and go through yearly recertification. The Communication Centre Shift Supervisor is responsible for overseeing all operations within the Communication Centre and review calls for continuous quality improvement.[17]

WFPS has a primary and secondary fully operational Communication Centre, both with generator back-up power so that all communication services they provide maintain 100% full-time, uninterrupted operation regardless of circumstances on incidents that may occur.

List of Stations & Offices

Stations and location as of 2019:[18]

Station No.AddressServices
165 Ellen StreetAmbulance, Fire suppression
255 Watt StreetAmbulance, Fire suppression
3337 Des Meurons StreetFire suppression
4150 Osborne StreetFire suppression
5845 Sargent AvenueAmbulance, Fire suppression
6603 Redwood AvenueAmbulance, Fire suppression
710 Allan Blye DriveFire suppression
8640 Kimberley AvenueFire suppression
9864 Marion StreetFire suppression
101354 Border StreetAmbulance, Fire suppression
111705 Portage AvenueAmbulance, Fire suppression
121780 Taylor AvenueAmbulance, Fire suppression
13799 Lilac StreetAmbulance, Fire suppression
141057 St. Mary's RoadAmbulance, Fire suppression
151083 Autumnwood DriveFire suppression
161001 McGregor StreetAmbulance, Fire suppression
171501 Church AvenueAmbulance, Fire suppression
185000 Roblin BoulevardAmbulance, Fire suppression
19320 Whytewold RoadFire suppression
20525 Banting DriveAmbulance, Fire suppression
211446 Regent Avenue W.Ambulance, Fire suppression
221567 Waverley StreetAmbulance, Fire suppression
23880 Dalhousie DriveFire suppression
241665 Rothesay StreetAmbulance, Fire suppression
25701 Day StreetAmbulance, Fire suppression
261525 Dakota StreetFire suppression
2727 Sage Creek BoulevardAmbulance, Fire suppression
30524 Osborne StreetAmbulance
31726 Furby StreetAmbulance
362490 Portage AvenueAmbulance

As of January 1, 2018, the WFPS no longer offer child car seat inspections.

Administrative offices and location:[18]

Headquarters2nd Floor, 185 King Street
Training Academy2546 McPhillips Street
Fire Prevention Branch2nd Floor, 185 King Street

List of Hospitals in Winnipeg

List of Hospitals in Winnipeg[19] to which WEMS can transport patients.

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References
  1. http://www.winnipeg.ca/fps/Services/Operations/FireRescueResponse.stm
  2. http://www.winnipeg.ca/fps/contact.stm
  3. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/ems/EMSPersonnel.stm
  4. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/ems/MIRV.stm
  5. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/ems/Bariatric.stm
  6. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/ems/pacer.stm
  7. http://winnipeg.ca/cao/media/news/nr_2014/nr_20140617.stm
  8. http://www.mainstreetproject.ca/activity/
  9. http://www.mainstreetproject.ca/our-services/intoxicated-persons-detention-area-ipda/
  10. http://www.wrha.mb.ca/healthinfo/news/2013/130402-community-paramedics.php
  11. http://winnipeg.ca/cao/media/news/nr_2015/nr_20150610.stm
  12. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/fire/hazmat.stm
  13. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/fire/HighAngleRescue.stm
  14. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/fire/TrenchRescue.stm
  15. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/fire/VehicleExtrication.stm
  16. Services, City of Winnipeg Corporate Web. "Child Car Seat Inspection Program - Fire Paramedic Service - City of Winnipeg". winnipeg.ca. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  17. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/operations/911/default.stm
  18. http://winnipeg.ca/fps/stations.stm
  19. http://wrha.mb.ca/facilities/index.php
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