Wheatland County sent a resolution to the Central District Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) for endorsement regarding concerns about the capacity and delivery of ambulance services in rural Alberta.
The submission deadline was September 15, ahead of the regularly scheduled council meeting on Tuesday, September 21 and council ratified the submission at the meeting.
“We’re impacted by resources being drawn into Calgary, and there are other municipalities that are experiencing the same,” said Wheatland County Reeve Amber Link during the meeting.
Reeve Link added this has impacts and concerns for public safety.
In the September 15 edition of the Mail, it was noted the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) began posting the status of ambulance service throughout the province, and the increased number of Red Alerts-where there are no ambulances available.
Councillor Glenn Koester originally requested Wheatland County to forward the resolution to the Central RMA general meeting regarding the concerns rural Albertans face with the provincial EMS service.
With EMS services transitioning from a municipal to provincial responsibility, many rural Albertans have been left without ambulatory services, or reduced capacity, due to the repositioning of resources to other areas-mostly to more populated, urban and metropolitan areas, such as Calgary.
“Since the transition to a provincial EMS system, the impacts on municipalities, who support emergency medical care by providing medical first response, includes increasing need for municipal fire services to provide medical first response, which can result in increased stress on firefighters responding to medical incidents and increased costs,” states the resolution.
The resolution was sent for endorsement at the Central RMA district general meeting, which was ratified unanimously by council; if it receives endorsement it will move forward to the RMA conference, scheduled for November.

The Big Country Antique and Classic Auto Club shifted gear this year, and it proved to make it a fun summer for its memberships.
The club was revived a few years ago. They began weekly meetups at A&W, welcoming all makes, models, and vintage of cars, with the ethos of ‘run what ya brung.’
The Valley Cruisers have grown to about 50 members and become more active. They are also seeing younger members.
This season rather than the weekly Thursday night meetups, they began doing cruises. They would meet up and cruise to local establishments for dinner. They went everywhere from Bernie and the Boys to Asteroid, and the Sunny Spot, often calling ahead, not to overwhelm the businesses.
“It was great to spread it out around the community, and there was a great reception,” said member Shauna Jensen.
They would also cruise through the area campgrounds, which also proved popular. They were also active participants in local Mother’s and Father’s Day and birthday parades.
“Members enjoyed the change of pace,” said Jensen.
She says the club is already planning next year’s Boogie in the Badlands Car Show and are hoping to continue to meet Thursday evenings, so long as the weather cooperates.
The Valley Cruisers welcome anyone who wants to bring out their car, or even just check them out.