Simulation training exercises to help shape the future design of ground ambulances with frontline staff from Alberta Health Services – Emergency Medical Services (AHS-EMS) were conducted in Drumheller last Thursday.
    More than 100 EMS personnel from across Alberta are volunteering with the Ambulance Design Research Project through the University of Calgary’s Ward of the 21st Century (W21C).
    As the first study of its kind to be conducted in Canada, this provincewide initiative explores how EMS staff can best deliver care within the patient compartment of ambulances. Study findings will influence and improve the safety, layout and functionality of future AHS ambulances.
    “Our goal is to ensure we are providing our staff with a safe, comfortable workspace that will allow them to do their jobs as efficiently as possible to improve patient safety and outcomes,” says Mike Plato, Acting Executive Director of EMS business standards and operations support. “This is a unique opportunity to observe the interactions between EMS practitioners within the patient compartment of an ambulance, while providing simulated patient care.”

Research associate Greg  Hallihan (centre)  and  Jamie Dawson set up a eye’s view camera on Matt Schulz. Emergency responders in Drumheller participated in a research study in Drumhead on Thursday, May 9.

    To create a realistic emergency scenario similar to those encountered on the job, EMS staff taking part in this emergency exercise will treat a simulation mannequin as their ‘patient’ as they provide care inside a moving ambulance. Researchers will use video and vision-tracking devices to observe and learn how treatment can be affected by the confines of an ambulance.
    “Our data collection will allow us to develop evidence-based design guidelines for future ambulances,” says Jeff Caird, PhD, Human Factors and Simulation Lead, W21C. “The study focuses on efficiency of care and the safety of health care providers and patients.”
    Through surveys and interviews, AHS-EMS staff will also give written and verbal feedback to researchers about their experiences working in ambulances.
    The simulation exercises were from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Canadian Tire parking lot. Similar training exercises will be held across the province in the coming months.
    The study is a collaboration between AHS-EMS, W21C and multiple other stakeholder groups within AHS. Funding for this study has been provided by the AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence (a Government of Canada automotive-sector research initiative), AHS and W21C.

    A Drumheller resident is breathing easy.
    Alfred Escher, an 80-year-old resident of Drumheller and asthma sufferer, swears by the air in Drumheller. Since moving to Drumheller 16 year ago, he has been able to go without an inhaler or medication.
     “I lived most of my life in Calgary and had my own floor covering business there. In 1972, I had the London Flu, which left me with my lungs damaged. Ever since, I’ve been on asthma medication,” said Escher.
    In 1997, his work brought him to Drumheller.

Alfred Escher...
Says Drumheller cured asthma symptoms

    “I got a job at the pen doing the floor in the new administration building. I had been working there for one month and realized I didn’t need the puffer anymore. I kept taking my pills, but stopped those after two or three months. I haven’t taken any since,” said Escher.
    Over Easter, Escher had a relapse when he left Drumheller’s climate.
    “Over the Easter weekend, I went to visit my daughter in Cochrane and choked up again. I couldn’t breathe, but when I got back here, I was fine again,” said Escher. “It made me wonder if other people had the same experience.”
    Asthma also affected more than just Escher. His previous wife suffered from asthma as well.
    “She suffered greatly in Toronto and Calgary. She died of asthma when she was 44. I thought if I had known about the air in Drumheller, she might be still alive,” said Escher.
    Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by airway obstruction, which manifests as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.
    While Escher is convinced the environment in Drumheller could help others, researchers say asthma, and its causes, are hard to pin down, so it may be premature to declare the Valley a haven for asthma sufferers.
    “People sometimes say, with pride, that a place is terrible for asthma. But, what I think happens with asthma, especially allergic asthma, there will be something that triggers it in a particular environment. When you move, and that trigger isn’t there, then you might be fine, but generally what happens over time is you become sensitive to something in your new environment and then it’ll come back,” said Dr. Bob Cowie, an asthma specialist with the University of Calgary.
    Asthma sufferers can also have different triggers. What affects one person, may not affect another. Common triggers include air quality, plants, and animals. Stress may even worsen symptoms.
    Cowie also cautions against the casual use of the term asthma.
    “There was a recent publication in the Canadian Medical Association Journal where they tried to link asthma with being overweight. What they discovered was that nearly a third of the people labelled with asthma and were on asthma treatment, had been for decades, didn’t have asthma. So, is it asthma, or something being labelled as asthma,” said Cowie.
    What Escher wants to know now, is if others in Drumheller have had the same experience.
    “People should know how good the climate is here,” said Escher. “Maybe, I’m not the only one here like that.”