May 26 – June 1, 2019
National Paramedic Services Week honours the paramedic profession and recognizes the men and women of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providing this key public service. It is also an opportunity for the public to better understand the important role EMS has within both the health care system and our communities.
The year’s national theme is, Paramedics: Health. Community. You.
Whether directly, or indirectly, every Albertan has felt the importance of the service paramedics provide. Paramedics are trained health care professionals who stabilize and treat patents before and during transport to hospital. In some areas of the province, paramedics are now working side-by-side their health care colleagues in hospitals and community care facilities.
- There are over 4,000 EMS practitioners and 550 ambulances in the Alberta Health Services system province-wide;
- Approximately 5,500 patients will be transferred by fixed wing aircraft through contracted air ambulance providers in Alberta this year;
- EMS dispatch receives over 500,000 ground ambulance calls each year.
EMS practitioners across the Alberta and Canada will be celebrating National Paramedic Services Week in a variety of ways. Watch for information in your local media as well as AHS EMS Twitter (@ahs_ems), Facebook (@albertahealthservicesEMS) and ahs.ca/ems about events happening in your community.
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million Albertans and it’s more than 661,848 square kilometers. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.
