CISSS de l’Outaouais and Outaouais Paremedics Cooperative (CPO) work together to increase first respondent services in the region

CISSS de l’Outaouais and Outaouais Paremedics Cooperative (CPO) work together to increase first respondent services in the region

The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de l’Outaouais and the Coopérative des paramédics de l’Outaouais (CPO) announced last week that they are working together to provide a wide range of services to better meet the needs of Outaouais residents. According to their news release, this cooperation should have impacts in the Pontiac. “During the holiday season and in the context of difficult weather conditions expected over the next few days, our two organizations are asking people to be extra cautious and safe, as the risk of an accident is higher,” the CISSS of the Outaouais and the CPO said.

Improvement of pre-hospital services:

“The CISSS de l’Outaouais improves the ambulance service offer on a regular basis according to demand, by adding additional ambulances in the area. On top of which, in June 2022 we received funding from the Government of Quebec to improve pre-hospital services. This envelope made it possible to carry out schedule changes in the Pontiac and in the Petite Nation territories last October,” said the CISSS de l’Outaouais and the CPO.

According to the CISSS de l’Outaouais and the CPO, the changes will have the following advantages:

 Significantly improves response time, since paramedics are in their vehicle rather than at home or at the barracks;
 Put an end to service failures;
 Implement a dynamic vehicle deployment plan to reposition vehicles on the territory as needed.

“For all of the changes to the regional service, we will carry out a periodic assessment of the impact on the clinical, operational and human levels. In Outaouais, there has been no increase in response times for vital emergency calls since these changes,” said the CISSS de l’Outaouais and the CPO.

Also in this joint press release, the two organizations mentioned that several municipalities in the Outaouais also have a first responder service, which is one of the fastest and most efficient strategies for responding to vital emergencies while waiting for the arrival of an ambulance. The CISSS de l’Outaouais explained that it will be able to support municipalities in their accreditation process for first responders and the certification of responders, or to offer additional training for municipalities with challenges in the sustainability of their first responders.

“This work done in full collaboration has been put in place over the past few weeks, and has served namely the addition of a 24-hour ambulance vehicle until January 8, 2023, accelerated access to ministry examinations for the hiring of new paramedics to come and lend a hand to the system, the establishment of a fluidity committee as well as the participation of the cooperative in the committee to decongest
emergencies”, concluded the CISSS de l’Outaouais and the CPO.