Remote Manitoba First Nation with no ambulance service gets new emergency medical response vehicle
Province working with Poplar River First Nation to help vehicle, attendants meet licensing requirements
A remote First Nation in eastern Manitoba has a new emergency response vehicle to move people in need of medical treatment.
People in Poplar River First Nation have previously been transported in the beds of pickup trucks or the backs of SUVs or vans.
"It was uncomfortable for the patients in our community," said Poplar River fire Chief Willard Bittern, who helped spearhead efforts to get the medical truck that arrived in the community earlier this month.
The isolated First Nation of around 1,200 people on the northeast shore of Lake Winnipeg now needs approval from the province before it can put the vehicle to full use.
The Southeast Resource Development Council, which provides programs and services to eight First Nations, is working with Manitoba to help Poplar River meet the province's requirements.
"We call it an ambulance, but it's really more of a first-aid vehicle," said Dave Schellenberg, the SERDC's emergency response co-ordinator.
Manitoba's emergency medical services system includes ambulances and stretcher services, but Schellenberg said Poplar River's vehicle falls somewhere in between.
'Grey area'
"It's kind of a grey area right now," Schellenberg said.
"Right now they're using it for assisting with medevacs at the request of the nurse in charge, and we're working with Manitoba licensing and compliance to essentially change how we deliver these medical services in remote First Nation communities."
While it's not technically an ambulance, it's the community's hope the truck can eventually be used to respond to emergencies and help pave the way for improved medical transportation services in other isolated communities where there are no ambulances.
"If you were to fall and break your leg in Transcona, how would you feel about being laid in the back of a truck and driven through the streets of Winnipeg with all of our lovely potholes and dropped off at Health Sciences Centre?" Schellenberg asked.
"You wouldn't stand for it. So why do our First Nations communities have to do it that way?"
A spokesperson for the province said the government has been in regular contact with the Southeast Resource Development Council to make sure the vehicle meets stretcher transportation regulatory requirements and staff are trained properly to be stretcher attendants.
The province said it's also provided information on how to license a stretcher transportation system or an emergency medical response system. The latter would be needed to operate the truck as an ambulance.
The Manitoba government said so far, it has not received an application from the community.
"Right now it's being used with approval of the nurse in charge and with a paramedic involved, basically taking people from the nursing station to the airport for that medevac," Schellenberg said.
'Off-road ambulance'
Poplar River got funding from the federal First Nations and Inuit Health Branch to buy the truck, which cost around $300,000. The price tag includes a year's worth of medical supplies.
The truck was driven to Poplar River on winter roads, one of the only ways to access the community other than flying in.
The Ford F-350 has been outfitted with a custom-built fibreglass capsule that sits in the truck's box and is filled with medical equipment and supplies.
"I literally Googled off-road ambulance, because that's kind of what I wanted," Schellenberg said.
A heavy-duty vehicle was needed because a traditional ambulance wouldn't fare well on the First Nation's gravel roads.
"The roads would literally eat it alive," he said. "We kind of thought out of the box and we came up with this unit."
Community members trained
People can be loaded into the capsule on a stretcher for treatment and transportation, Bittern said.
Attendants have received training on how to operate it.
"We wanted … our own community members to be trained," Bittern said.
Eight people in Poplar River completed a three-week advanced first-aid course, specifically geared towards responding to emergency and medical situations that may arise in First Nations.
"There's no ambulance service," Schellenberg said. "They need to take care of themselves. Nobody's coming to help them.
"We threw in some more scenarios that they would deal with, a little bit more training on how to transport people."
While he helped, Schellenberg said people in Poplar River deserve the credit for making the vehicle a reality.
"What works in Winnipeg and what works in rural Manitoba doesn't work in these remote communities, so we need to think outside the box and make some changes to give them better support and allow them to do more," he said.
"It's going to take some time, but hopefully within a couple years, we'll see some changes and we'll have kind of a standard for First Nation communities."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
