Leduc to transition away from integrated Fire-EMS on Oct. 31

LEDUC -- A new 12-month trial is set to begin in Leduc which will see all fire apparatus staffed with at least one paramedic.

This comes as the municipality is set to transition away from its Fire-EMS model on Oct. 31, 2026. As part of these changes, Leduc City Council has approved a motion to trial an advanced life support (ALS) medical first response model rather than moving to basic life support. Fire Chief Bryan Singleton says ALS provides a higher level of care when ambulance response is delayed.

He also notes that the city has a unique opportunity to complete an in-depth assessment of the value, challenges, and cost of maintaining an ALS medical first response, while also assessing the long-term sustainability of the model. Leduc Fire Services currently has 85 per cent of full-time staff licensed as advanced care paramedics. With this staffing ratio, they expect to have at least one ACP on each first responding fire apparatus 95 per cent of the time.

"We had a lot of options and there was a lot of discussion on this," said Councillor Bill Hamilton. "I know that this council wanted to provide the best care and mitigate our change through this ambulance situation. This sounds like a great option to me at $18,000, a wonderful way to extend what we were offering before, keep it going, and gain some data in the meantime.

According to the city, the 1-year trial from November 1, 2026, to October 31, 2027, will end in enough time to evaluate and make any required budget adjustments for the 2028 budget year if the decision is made to continue ALS MFR past the trial end. They add that the trial will gather information to better inform a decision, at the end of the trial, on the best level of MFR for the residents of Leduc.