The Calgary Fire Department will host the city's second medical response unit on the Beltline

Calgary has a second dedicated Calgary Fire Department Medical Response Unit after the truck out of Station 1 in downtown Calgary was the city's busiest fire department, as well as an effective way to reduce the resources used to respond to calls.

The second facility, unveiled on February 13, will be based on Station 2 on the west side of the Beltline.

Fire Chief Steve Dongworth said the additional department will eliminate the need for structure fire trucks to respond to medical calls and the need for two firefighters instead of four for those calls.

“By having a full fire response and redeploying small light vehicles instead of crews, we can ensure that the right resources are allocated to each emergency,” he said.

“We were able to divert our heavy equipment to other emergency situations, which allowed us to maintain efficiency and response time, especially at our busiest stations.”

He said the medical response units deployed by the Calgary Fire Department are designed to support specialized paramedic services provided by Alberta Health Services and are not intended to transport patients to hospital.

“Our firefighters will be on the scene until Alberta Health Services EMS arrives, providing continuous support and assistance during the call,” said Chief Dongworth.

The Medical Response Department is Calgary's busiest fire department

Although firefighters only responded to echo and delta calls—the most serious and life-threatening calls—Station 1 was the city's busiest fire department, with nearly 6,000 calls in 2023.

“We've had a very high volume of medical calls, and we've seen the opioid epidemic increase that number … but it's not the only one,” Chief Dongworth said.

“Echoes include cardiac arrest, people having trouble breathing, overdoses, and things where people are unconscious and pulseless. Deltas are so important that they are the next step after that. So suffocation and serious injury.”

He said he believes in the work the department is doing and the benefits of firefighters working alongside paramedics to save lives.

Chief Dongworth also noted the benefit of a decommissioned medical unit to ensure other firefighting resources are available when needed.

“We've seen a roughly 15 percent increase in call volume, going from 81,000 to 92,000 calls last year. It's been a steady growth pattern for three to four years, and if it continues, we'll get over 100,000 calls this year.”

“The reintroduction of the No. 1 Medical Response Unit has certainly had a big impact on this, where we have seen a significant increase in productivity over the past year. I think the introduction of this facility will help us grow this year.”

The unit was paid for by the City of Calgary from the 2023-2026 Calgary Fire Department budget

Chief Dongworth said the creation of the two departments was made possible through funding provided by Calgary City Council under the 2023-2026 fire department budget.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the council is investing an additional $3.4 million to operate the second unit of Station 2.

“Currently, 55 of the calls from the Calgary Fire Department are medical calls. So we have these two response units. It's not their primary role, but they're doing the job because it needs to be done,” he said.

Mayor Gondek has been at odds with the provincial government for not providing adequate funding to health care units.

“Why should Calgarians be asking the serious question of who pays for what, because the signal often given to local government is that we're raising property taxes and you're not getting anything in return,” he said.

“I can tell you that when we have to provide housing, when we have to provide affordable housing, when we have to deal with things like public safety on our own, property taxes are affected. When we have to give the dollars that health care units need, it becomes your property tax, and the provincial government has to be absolutely responsible for that.”

The issue of provincial funding for firefighter medical response has been brewing in Calgary since 2019. Similar requests for provincial funding for local health care have been made in Grande Prairie and B.C. councils raised.