Lawyers for the Alberta government say a northern municipality is operating illegally by withdrawing from a provincial ambulance dispatch service.
The province is seeking a court order that would require the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to resume transferring 911 calls to Alberta Health Services medical emergency calls.
Read more:
Wood Buffalo council passes motion to defy Alberta’s consolidation of EMS dispatch services
The municipality, which includes Fort McMurray, stopped transferring calls at noon Thursday after its council decided earlier in the week that the new service is putting patients at risk due to delays and confusion.
A lawyer representing Wood Buffalo says it’s in the public interest for the municipality to keep handling emergency medical calls.
Read more:
Wood Buffalo mayor says he stands by decision to ‘defy and resist’ Alberta’s EMS consolidation
He adds that it already runs a dispatch centre for the fire department under separate provincial legislation.
The province consolidated emergency medical dispatch services to save money, and recently forced Red Deer, Calgary, Lethbridge, and Wood Buffalo to make the change despite their objections.
