Alberta Health Services says it has completed an investigation into why an ambulance took 30 minutes to respond after dogs killed a 86-year-old woman in Calgary’s Capitol Hill neighborhood on Sunday.
Police and paramedics who went to the scene in the northwest of the city found the injured woman who was taken to hospital and then died.
Alberta Health Services, which manages emergency medical services, said in a statement that the initial 911 call was sent to police based on information provided from the scene.
Spokesman James Wood said the call was initially classified as non-fatal, but police notified the EMS when they arrived at the scene that the patient’s injuries were serious.
Wood says the EMS sent an ambulance, which arrived nine minutes later.
“This tragic incident occurred at a time of very high EMS call volumes,” he said. “However, once the call was considered a high priority, an ambulance was sent immediately.
“AHS is discussing these findings in more depth with EMS and will contact them [Calgary police] to identify any further learning from this tragic incident. “
Steve Buick, a spokesman for Health Minister Jason Copping, said the minister was “relieved” to learn that the AHS investigation had confirmed that there were no undue delays in the EMS response.
In a statement to CBC News, Buick said it appeared that the initial call did not indicate that the incident was urgent, but that AHS responded appropriately when they received more information.
“It doesn’t change the fact that this death was a terrible tragedy, nor the need to address the tension of the EMS,” Buick said.
“We must continue to support the EMS and add the necessary resources until we get back to the response times within the AHS targets, where they were until last summer, when volumes increased by up to 30 percent.”