The City of Stratford is entering into a medical-tiered response memorandum of understanding with Perth County Paramedic Services.
City council voted unanimously for the change at Monday night’s meeting.
According to Fire Chief Neil Anderson’s management report, a tiered response is a coordinated mechanism between emergency services and provides guidance for which organization attends medical calls, types of responses, and under which circumstances.
Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach asked Anderson if the MOU would affect response calls for firefighters.
Anderson said it will reduce the amount of calls they receive.
The MOU introduces new protocols based on changing procedures of medical dispatching, including the medical priority dispatch system, which helps emergency departments triage 911 calls.
The goal of the MOU is to help provide mutual support between the fire department and paramedics, as well as emergency response types, procedures for handling delays in accessing and treating patients, protocols when assistance is requested by paramedics, data sharing and joint training and development.
The changes start in Stratford in October.
