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Wednesday February 24 2016 11 HEALTH AND WELLNESS LAND AMBULANCE Take part in this years translation activities and receive a language gift package Bring your answer into the Northern Journal or email adminnorj.ca. Niskipisim is Aboriginal Languages Month Sponsoredby TheNWTMtisNation TheMtisNation wouldliketoextendtheir sincerethanksforthededication ofthestudentsandstaff ofAuroraCollege. MakingourFUTUREbright WhatyouaredoingwillbenifitallNortherners Sponsoredby TheNWTMtisNation TheMtisNation wouldliketoextendtheir sincerethanksforthededication ofthestudentsandstaff ofAuroraCollege. MakingourFUTUREbright WhatyouaredoingwillbenifitallNortherners Brought to you by The NWT Cree Language Program and The NWT Mtis Nation By CRAIG GILBERT An ominous sign warns travellers of the dangers of heading toward the Arctic Circle there are no emer- gency medical services on the Yukon portion of the Dempster Highway. On Feb. 3 that was not the case as a pair of brand new ambulances made their way to Inuvik to enter service with theregionalhubsnewground emergencymedicineprovider Yellowknife-based Advanced Medical Services AMS. The handful of drivers who they came across in the ditch that day were no doubt relievedtoseewhatappeared to be two teams of paramed- ics happening upon them. Onevehiclethatwasinthe ditch was driven by a young girl it had literally just hap- pened recalled AMS presi- dentandCEOSeanIvenswho led the mini-caravan with a team of three employees. We pulled up and turned on the lights for safety since there was some trac on the road. We ended up digging her out of the ditch and helping her on her way. One of my other drivers asked her name and it turns out she was his daugh- tersbestfriend.Smallworld. About two weeks later on Feb. 15 AMS which provides air ambulance service for all of the NWT and western Nunavutaswellasemergency medical services to industrial operations nationwide of- cially took over the contract tooperatelandambulancesin Inuvik for the Beaufort Delta Health and Social Services Authority BDHSSA. The next day the new ground New ambulance provider lands in Inuvik crew and the existing air am- bulance team worked on their rst call together. The primary unit is a two- wheel drive Crestline Coach built on a van chassis. It was the demonstration agship unit the manufacturer used for promotional activities such as trade shows. The second ambulance is more rugged built on an all- wheel drive Ford F350 frame. We wanted our primary unit to be a typical city ambu- lance with all the comforts of a modern ambulance Ivens said. The F350 gives us the ability to operate in more rug- gedconditionsorbadweather sowecanstillrespondandnot be restricted as much. For the time being AMS is renting the old Blue Ice EMS ambulance bay for its ground operations but Ivens has plans to build within about 12 months a new combined facility including the air op- erations and an apartment for the paramedics to stay in while they are on-shift. That allows us to respond withinthecommunitywithin 90 seconds that is our goal Ivens said. In Inuvik we always have three people on-shift on the air side. On the ground side we have two people on-shift 247 with the ability to recall two more. In eect we can operate two ambulances if absolutely necessary. Weve hired ve people and Im happy to say theyre all local residents. They are all experienced andqualiedemergencymed- icalresponderstheentry-lev- el certication and primary care paramedics. At least some of them were recruited fromBlueIcewhichprovided ambulanceserviceinthetown for about 20 years. Blue Ice bid on the new 42-month contract but AMS submitted the highest-rated proposal according to Roger Israel director of nance and operations for the BDHSSA. The contract had run its course he said. We had done a couple of extensions on it but were forced to go out every so often to make sure were getting good value for our money. Its part of a standard process. The request for proposals RFP score considered sev- eral factors including past relevant experience pricing and whether the company is based in the NWT. Given the breadth of the service they are going to pro- videofcoursethatwouldgive AMS a higher rating in the methodology section of the proposal Israel explained. If you take away that kind of information though the restoftheproposalremained at the same calibre a very well-written proposal very detailed on service levels and providing a higher level of service than we had re- quested so of course that translates to a higher rating for them. Building capacity Education and profession- al development are central to the AMS business model. Five of the companys ap- proximately 80 employees are educators tasked with upgrading the skills of the medical sta. There is about 500000 worth of high-fidelity ro- botic mannequins that can do anything your body does in the AMS training lab according to Ivens. There are only a hand- ful of qualied people and most times they arent in the communities that we need he said. We created this model so theres a step- ping stone for people. To just jump right into the primary care paramedic PCP level youre talking almost a years worth of education and very little eld experience. We wanted to create capacity in the region. Ivens intends to expand that program and oer train- ing to community members and nurses who work at the various health centres across the NWT they serve with the air service. We want to help nurses get some certications they dont have access to in the community Ivens said. It also helps integrate them into what we do a little bit and that way when we do arrive for a medevac call they know whos coming and what to expect. Advanced Medical Services the new emergency medicine provider in Inuvik drove the towns two new ambulances up the Dempster Highway on Feb. 3 stopping to help motorists who had hit the ditch along the way. The company which already provides air ambulance service across the NWT intends to build a new base for its combined operations in the Arctic town and oer medical training to community members. PhotocourtesyofSeanIvens Advertising and marketing Book design Brochures posters Business cardsStationery Logo design Photography Promo material Signs Banners Stickers Magnets Wedding invitations Contact Cascade Graphics at 867 872-3000 or graphicsnorj.ca 207 McDougal Rd Fort Smith NT We offer a range of custom design services cascade graphics