Quebec wants to send non-urgent 911 calls to Info-Santé

It’s not unheard of for people to call 911 when they mangle an ankle or have a bad backache — and while sometimes a outing to a sanatorium by ambulance is warranted, that isn’t always a case.

To assistance palliate a bucket on ambulance technicians, a range has been testing transferring non-urgent calls to 811 instead.

It’s a second triage, of sorts: if a call meets certain criteria, it’s eliminated to a nurse, who takes over and conducts a some-more in-depth analysis on a patient then decides either an ambulance is necessary.

The categorical pursuit of an ambulance technician is to save lives, says Dr. Élyse Berger Pelleter, who works for a Health Ministry.

But with an aging race and a necessity of ambulance technicians in a province, a conditions on a belligerent is distant from ideal — putting a lot of vigour on puncture medical services.

“The design is that ambulance workers respond to cardiac arrest, heart attacks — people who unequivocally need their skills,” Berger Pelleter said.

The Health Ministry wants to have a new complement entirely dynamic provincewide by 2022. Berger Pelletier pronounced she hopes eventually, people who call with non-urgent problems will get a doctor’s appointment, if need be.

“The customer is satisfied. It’s efficient. Everyone is happy. That’s where we’re headed.”

2 years in, considerable results

The commander plan is in a third year in 4 regions: Montreal, Laval, Chaudière-Appalaches and a Eastern Townships.

The eliminated calls are being rubbed by a dedicated team of Info-Santé nurses in Laval. The chief of service, Nancy Vachon, says a group is able to handle about 3,000 calls a month.

In Montreal and Laval, 23,000 non-urgent calls were eliminated to 811 between Apr 1, 2018, and Mar 31, 2019. In 20 per cent of those cases — about 4,800 calls in all — the Info-Santé helper dynamic there was no need for an ambulance.

Officials design a formula to be reduction considerable in a dual more rural regions, since residents vital where there is reduction entrance to taxis or open ride are some-more expected to have an ambulance sent to them, Berger Pelletier said.

Urgences-Santé, a puncture medical use that covers Montreal and Laval, gets adult to 1,300 calls per day, pronounced a agency’s director, Vincent Brouillard. He pronounced a commander plan is permitting a agency to respond to genuine emergencies, relieving a vigour on paramedics in general.

It is having another effect, as well, he said: fewer ambulance transports meant there are fewer people in puncture rooms, so it is also easing overcrowding.

Those experiencing non-urgent health issues can call 811 directly instead of 911.

For non-urgent situations involving Montreal police, a ubiquitous series is 514-280-2222, or we can call your local hire directly.

Article source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/911-811-quebec-emergency-non-urgent-calls-1.5432985?cmp=rss