EMAT returns from Northwestern Ontario after a successful deployment
Ontario's Emergency Medical Assistance Team (EMAT), operated by Sunnybrook, has returned home after a successful deployment to Northwestern Ontario to support the local health care system and provide health care services to residents evacuated from smoke and fire-threatened communities.
Robert J. Burgess, BHSc, ACP, AEMCA, CQIA:
Rob Burgess is the Senior Director of the Sunnybrook Centre for Prehospital Medicine, the province’s largest base hospital program and operator of the Ontario Emergency Medical Assistance Team (EMAT).
Rob practiced as an Advanced Care paramedic, receiving the EMS Exemplary Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada and the Rubes Award recognizing excellence in paramedicine. He served as President of the Ontario Paramedic Association where he led the profession to establish its own regulatory college. He is the co-editor of a paramedic textbook, and has authored a number of research publications in the field.
Rob established the province’s first formal self–directed continuing education program for paramedics, and served as chair of the Ontario Base Hospital Group Executive (OBHG) where he worked with the Ministry of Health & Long Term Care to restructure the province’s base hospital system.
He lives in Whitby, Ontario with his wife Grace and their son Jonathan.
Upon arrival in Thunder Bay, EMAT set-up at the airport to provide care to the evacuees who had health problems. It was important to stage the EMAT equipment in this area to ensure rapid access if health care facilities were threatened due to smoke and fire, or if further evacuations were necessary.
When it was clear that EMAT support was no longer required at the airport, the team and equipment were redeployed to Greenstone, Ontario to support evacuation centres (including approximately 1,000 evacuees) and establish a process to provide surge support for Geraldton District Hospital. Before leaving the airport site, the team was visited by Premier Dalton McGuinty who recognized the important contribution EMAT would make to this incident.
EMAT set-up in two locations in Geraldton; the reception centre where they performed assessments and provided primary care services, and near the hospital where they could offer additional resources (including critical care) if required.
While in Greenstone, EMAT's objectives included:
- continuing to provide surge support to the Thunder Bay - Greenstone area as needed.
- the provision of surge support to the Geraldton District Hospital
- nursing and psychosocial health support to the evacuees in both Geraldton and Longlac. As the evacuees remain away from their homes for extended periods, psychosocial health problems become the primary issue to address. The interdisciplinary team of nurses, psychosocial health professionals, paramedics, and physicians worked collaboratively with the communities to ensure the health of the evacuees
All communities affected by the recent forest fires have been deemed safe, with the Ontario government returning all displaced residents back to their homes by end of day on August 3. More than 2,000 firefighters continue to suppress fires. However, communities are currently not at risk from smoke or fire.
We wish to thank all of those who volunteered to work with EMAT and the superior service they provided. We would also like to thank, Rob Burgess, Senior Director of the Sunnybrook Centre for Pre-Hospital Medicine, for his invaluable leadership and guidance during the deployment.
About EMAT
Sunnybrook and the Sunnybrook Centre for Pre-Hospital Medicine operate EMAT by providing ongoing specialized training to respond to crisis situations and clinical staff for the team. This crisis team uses a mobile medical field unit that can be deployed anywhere in Ontario with road access within 24 hours. The EMAT can set-up a 56-bed unit that provides a staging and triage base, and has the capability to treat 20 acute care patients and 36 intermediate care patients. The EMAT is the first of its kind in Canada.
