News Release

MONCTON (GNB) – Ambulance New Brunswick has reintroduced the use of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and will soon use multi-patient vehicles for non-urgent transfers.

“Until now every patient being transferred required an ambulance and two paramedics,” said Health Minister Bruce Fitch. “Using EMTs to help handle non-urgent transfers and using multi-patient vehicles will help ensure other ambulances, staffed by paramedics, can respond to emergency calls.”

Fitch commented during a site visit to Ambulance New Brunswick’s Gorge Road location in Moncton where he met staff, including EMTs, and viewed a multi-patient vehicle.

Since January, Ambulance New Brunswick has hired 21 EMTs and recently received its first multi-patient vehicle. The first three multi-patient transfer teams will be based in the Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John regions.

“We are excited to add this innovative solution to our fleet,” said Jean-Pierre Savoie, vice-president of Ambulance New Brunswick. “We look forward to further leveraging the talented and hardworking EMTs who have joined our organization this year and giving them additional tools to help create an even more robust transfer system to help the patients we serve every day.”

The two initiatives are action items under the provincial health plan - Stabilizing Health Care: An Urgent Call to Action, which has five action areas: access to primary health care, access to surgery, create a connected system, access to addiction and mental health services, and support seniors to age in place.

It also builds on recent efforts to ensure a well-staffed health system including:

• Moving 14 medical school seats from outside New Brunswick to medical schools in Saint John and Moncton.
• Doubling the seats in the University of New Brunswick’s master’s program for nurse practitioners and expanding the nurse practitioner program at the Université de Moncton.
• Providing funding for up to 85 new nursing seats at the University of New Brunswick and the Université de Moncton, pushing the total number of nursing seats to 366 per year.
• Investing $2.5 million in a new scholarship fund for medical students
• Creating the Community Promotional Funding Program for regional service commissions to assist communities with promoting their region to help attract and retain health-care workers, and their families.