ABOUT OUR HISTORY
Crestvue Ambulance has been serving the Yorkton and district residents since April 30, 1973. In 1974 we incorporated as a limited company, providing emergency and non urgent transport of the sick and injured. Our company is also incorporated to sell first aide equipment and supplies.
From 1973 until 1975 service was provided with one main Ambulance and one backup Ambulance, equipped with basic first aide supplies and oxygen administration equipment. Our staff consisted of two full-time Driver-Attendants with St. John Ambulance Certificates, that being the highest level of training available. In 1975 we added one more Ambulance to our fleet and staffing was increased to five.
January of 1976 brought the installation of the first two-way radio link between an Ambulance Service and a Hospital. The coordinated effort between the Yorkton Union Hospital and Crestvue Ambulance Service allowed Attendants to talk directly from the scene or while en-route to Hospital, to the Nurses and or the Dr. in the Emergency Department.
A higher level of education introduced in the Province in 1978, brought the training of 5 full-time and 4 part-time employees with Crestvue as Emergency Medical Technicians. At present we are serving the Yorkton and District with 5 Ambulance’s equipped to the Minister of Health’s Standards and Regulations. Our staff consists of 19 Paramedics and 4 office personnel.
SERVICE DISTRICT
Crestvue Ambulance Services a District consisting of twenty-three Towns, Villages and Rural Municipalities, encompasses approximately twelve hundred and fifty (1250) square miles. We service a population of over thirty thousand residents plus Emergency and Transfer Service to the many visitors to our area communities.
SERVICES PROVIDED
Our 5 Ambulance’s respond to approximately twenty-four hundred (2400) calls per year, travelling in excess of one hundred and ten thousand miles. These range from Emergency responses for injury and illness, to routine trips for x-rays, blood work and Dr.’s appointments. As well, we provide Emergency and non-urgent inter-facility transfers to larger more equipped medical centres.
In addition to providing Emergency treatment and transport, Crestvue Ambulance provides public awareness programs and have on staff First Aide and Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation Instructors, who are very actively involved in teaching these skills to the public.
STAFF TRAINING
Long gone are the days when all that was required to work Ambulance Service was a strong back and the ability to drive fast. In many cases Ambulance personnel had little or no medical training and this was known as our “scoop and run” era. Time has proven that if a patient receives definitive medical care at the scene of an accident or illness, the patient’s hospital stay is substantially reduced and the hospital staff’s workload is lessened. Therefore, today’s ambulance personnel are required to be a trained professional paramedics. They must often make fast decisions without the benefits of consultation, x-ray machines, or other diagnostic equipment found in Hospitals. The licensed Paramedic must also be able to render the appropriate treatment at the scene and en-route, ensuring that the patients changing needs are met. Needless to say, many times the Paramedic’s actions in the first minutes of an injury/illness can mean the difference between life and death for the Patient. In order to enter this industry, the Student must successfully complete Paramedic program and be licenced at the level of either a primary, advanced or critical care paramedic.
This training has clearly moved Ambulance Services and its Employees into the realm of professional Pre-Hospital Care providers. The dedication of E.M.A.’s is perhaps best stated in their oath:
BE IT PLEDGED AS AN EMERGENCY SERVICES PARAMEDIC, I WILL HONOR THE PHYSICAL AND JUDICIAL LAWS OF GOD AND MAN.
I WILL FOLLOW THAT REGIMEN WHICH, ACCORDING TO MY ABILITY and JUDGEMENT, IS CONSIDERED BEST FOR THE BENEFIT OF PATIENTS AND ABSTAIN FROM WHATEVER IS DELETERIOUS AND MISCHEVIOUS, NOR SHALL I SUGGEST AND SUCH COUNSEL. INTO WHATEVER HOMES I ENTER,
I WILL GO INTO THEM ONLY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SICK AND INJURED, NEVER REVEALING WHAT I SEE OR HEAR IN THE LIVES OF MEN UNLESS REQUIRED BY LAW.
I SHALL ALSO SHARE MY MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE WITH THOSE WHO MAY BENEFIT FORM WHAT I HAVE LEARNED. I WILL SERVE UNSELFISHLY AND CONTINUOUSLY IN ORDER TO HELP MAKE A BETTER WORLD FOR ALL MANKIND.
WHILE I CONTINUE TO KEEP THIS OATH UNVIOLATED, MAY IT BE GRANTED TO ME TO ENJOY LIFE AND THE PRACTISE OF THE ART, RESPECTED BY ALL MEN, IN ALL TIMES. SHOULD I TRESPASS OR VIOLATE THIS OATH, MAY THE REVERSE BE MY LOT. SO HELP ME GOD.
HOW TO CALL FOR ASSISTANCE
Our dispatch center is located in the Regional Communications Center in Regina. For more information click here. Remember in times of emergencies you will most likely be excited. It is often difficult to locate telephone numbers in the directory and to give rational information and directions to the dispatcher. Your co-operations when making the request for service will aide the Ambulance in arriving at your location as quickly as possible. To assist in expediency when emergency situations arise, it is suggested that you keep a clear display of the emergency number (911) next to your telephone where it is visible to all family members. There is certain information that is required by the Ambulance Service that will assist them when they arrive on the scene, be calm and answer the questions as clearly as possible. Remember, it is quicker to spend a few seconds giving proper information than to have a the emergency services searching for an improperly stated address. It also assists the paramedics when they know what the situation is before leaving. They can prepare themselves en-route and have necessary equipment ready when they arrive.
WHAT TO EXPECT
When the emergency team arrives on the scene, they will require your assistance in establishing the best entrance and evacuation of the patient. As well, they will ask you some pertinent question as to the nature of the illness or accident. Try to be calm and give them as much information as you can, this will help them evaluate the situation and establish appropriate measures to take in caring for the patient.
An assessment of the patient will be done immediately and necessary treatment will be administered. Vital signs may or may not be done at the scene, depending on the condition of the patient. Ambulance personnel are trained professionals and with your assistance they will ensure that the patient is treated and transported as quickly as possible.
To help the public become more acquainted with our Service and facilities, public tours are available by calling or dropping into our office and arranging a time.
