By Dave Nickle
The Beach-Riverdale Mirror
TORONTO — Toronto’s firefighters and paramedics should be operating under the same command to make for faster response to medical emergencies, says mayoralty candidate George Smitherman.
“The average EMS response time is 12 minutes. In most cases, fire trucks are on the scene of an emergency in six minutes. Those six minutes are enough to save lives,” said Smitherman, at a Tuesday, June 22, news conference outside a downtown ambulance station.
Smitherman said if elected, he’d strike a task force looking at ways to amalgamate the two emergency services, to find efficiencies and allow firefighters to perform more basic life-saving procedures when called to a medical emergency.
The plan, said Smitherman, is one supported by the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs and the Ontario Professional Firefighters Association and is similar to a friendly amalgamation of the two services put in place in Winnipeg, where fire and ambulance are operate under the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, with a single chief commanding both branches.
In Toronto, fire is under the command of Toronto Fire Services — an essential service. The same is not the case for Toronto Emergency Medical Services, whose members are unionized under CUPE Local 416.
Last summer, EMS workers were part of the city-wide labour disruption, but stayed on the job to provide essential services.
“We witnessed in the garbage strike last summer paramdedic services being subjected to the challenges associated with the labour disruption. Part of my proposal is we would elevate paramedic services to essential service designation. I think it’s quite clear to everybody that this is an essential service and accordingly that’s part of my proposal,” he said.
Smitherman said he expected there might be some discussion about the prospect of moving the two different work forces under the same command.
“I totally recognize that it does have its controversies and that is why we will appoint a task force with representation from Toronto Fire Service, from Emergency Medical Services, and seek to develop a model that’s a made in Toronto approach and has the benefit of stopping the clock and saving lives,” he said. “That there will be some work and negotiation that has to be done with professionals that is understood.”
Copyright 2010 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.