History
Prior to 1995, Nova Scotia relied on approximately 50 private and public ambulance operators to provide emergency medical care; some were companies also involved in delivering funeral services. The level of medical care, staff qualifications and type and condition of ambulances and supplies varied throughout the province. Most medical air transportation was provided by the Canadian Forces' 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron operating out of CFB Summerside (1968-1990) and CFB Greenwood (1990-present). 413 Squadron used search and rescue aircraft such as the CH-113 Labrador helicopter as well as the CC-115 Buffalo and later the CC-130 Hercules fixed wing aircraft to deliver aid to the civil power missions.
In 1993, Cape Breton Island native Dr. Ron Stewart, who was instrumental in organizing emergency health services in southern California earlier in his career during the 1970s, was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly and was appointed the Minister of Health. Dr. Stewart quickly commissioned several reports on health care reform, one of which was conducted by Mike Murphy, the director of emergency services at the Isaac Walton Killam Children's Hospital which offered a comprehensive evaluation on the state of the province's ambulances.
The recommendations of the Murphy Report were subsequently adopted and by 1994 the transformation of Nova Scotia's health care system began, with the provincial government taking over control of ground ambulance operations and consolidating it into a single entity called Emergency Health Services.
From 1994 until 1999 the contract for ground ambulance service for EHS had been placed with the Ambulance Operators Association of Nova Scotia (AOANS), which had originally represented the private services taken over by the provincial government. This contract with AOANS was not renewed and was instead awarded under a long-term performance based contract to EMC Emergency Medical Care Inc. (EMC), a subsidiary of Medavie EMS Inc. which is a holding company within the Medavie Blue Cross group of companies.
Read more about this topic: Emergency Health Services
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