Ambulance New Brunswick has reintroduced the use of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and will soon use multi-patient vehicles for non-urgent transfers, officials announced last week.
A release says Ambulance New Brunswick has hired 21 EMTs since January and recently received its first multi-patient vehicle. The first three multi-patient transfer teams will be based in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John.
“Until now, every patient being transferred required an ambulance and two paramedics,” said Bruce Fitch, New Brunswick’s minister of health, in the news release.
“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.”
Jean-Pierre Savoie, vice-president of Ambulance New Brunswick, said his organization is excited to add what he calls an “innovative solution” to its fleet.
“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,” he said.