Artificial intelligence use for ambulance calls a concern to N.B. paramedics, says association head | 24CA News

Artificial intelligence now performs a job in how paramedics get dispatched to emergency calls in New Brunswick, and that has a lot of them involved about attainable hiccups and delays, says the top of the affiliation representing them.

Ambulance New Brunswick final Monday rolled out what it calls a computer-aided dispatch system, which depends on AI and mobile gadgets to inform paramedics of emergency calls they’re being dispatched to.

It’s a system that is inflicting unease and concern amongst paramedics over the likelihood for glitches and malfunctions that would come up in already hectic life and dying conditions, stated Derek Cassista, president of the Paramedics Association of New Brunswick.

“You can tell your phone, ‘Hey Siri, take me to A&W’, and I’m sure you’ve had times where that navigation fails or it takes you [on] what you know is the long way around when you think it’s the short way around.

“And you understand, having an extra-long journey to A&W versus having an extra-long journey to somebody’s home once they’re having a medical emergency clearly are two very various things.”

Susie Proulx-Daigle, president of the New Brunswick Union, which bargains on behalf of paramedics, said she also has concerns with the use of the technology.

“Ambulance NB didn’t make us conscious of any modifications to the dispatch system, it was delivered to our consideration by paramedics,” Proulx-Daigle said in an email.

“We have some main considerations concerning utilizing textual content messages as they are often missed, protection might be poor in varied areas. There are a number of potential points,” she stated.

“We really feel the radios are one of the best ways to dispatch calls. Any new system with the potential for technical points, reminiscent of interruptions in cell service, can have a serious impression on somebody’s life in an emergency state of affairs.”

Radio system will remain as back-up: ANB

The computer-aided dispatch system is known as Intelligent Decision Support and is being delivered by a company called Logis, said Michel Gravel, the director for Ambulance New Brunswick’s medical communications management centre.

Having an extra-long journey to A&W versus having an extra-long journey to somebody’s home once they’re having a medical emergency clearly are two very various things– Derek Cassista

In an email, Gravel said the “state-of-the-art” system will improve operational efficiency with a “highly effective, automated and customizable dispatch engine, which permits us to tailor the system for our particular wants.”

Gravel said feedback from the majority of frontline staff has been “fairly optimistic” since its roll-out.

“Like with any system replace we acknowledge that there will likely be an adjustment interval and through this preliminary implementation section, Logis IDS has offered onsite help employees who’re resolving any questions or points as they come up.”

Gravel said even with the new system, Ambulance New Brunswick’s radio dispatching system will remain in place, along with a series of contingencies that can be transitioned to immediately in the event they are needed.

Gravel said the technology was first implemented two years ago in New Brunswick to improve non-emergency patient transfer services, and provide health-care partners with a platform to request patient transfer bookings online.

Fears of ‘isolation’

Cassista said under the previous system, paramedics would get dispatched to emergencies by a dispatcher who communicated instructions to them using radio.

He said the process involved the dispatcher using their own judgment to decide which paramedic was closest to the call, before picking up the radio and alerting them.

However, regardless of who was ultimately sent, all paramedics would be aware of where the call was for and who was going, as they were all tuned into the same radio frequency, Cassista said.

Under the new system, Cassista said each paramedic is being directed to calls individually, and without the direct knowledge of other paramedics.

“The concern I might say primarily arises from introducing a component of …isolation into the paramedic ranks by utilizing the cellular phone an excessive amount of,” Cassista said.

“Whereas earlier than, working solely through radio, everybody can hear what is going on on. It looks like if one thing unhealthy occurs to me, if I’m caught in an unsafe setting, then folks may have my again on on a faster response fee.”

Cassista said many paramedics also feel like the technology is being introduced unnecessarily at the same time that Ambulance New Brunswick is failing to address shortcomings identified in a 2020 auditor-general’s report.

Some of those shortcomings relate to Ambulance New Brunswick’s contract with the province, and how that’s led to rural areas being under-served compared to urban areas.

“So we transfer ambulances into these city centres from rural areas each single day, each single night time… due to that operational contract and the way the system is structured. It’s extraordinarily inefficient,” Cassista said.

Hopeful about new technology

Cassista said while he shares in some of the hesitations around the new technology, he thinks adopting it will ultimately be a good thing so long as no issues come up.

So far, he said he hasn’t had any issues with the technology himself.

He is positive that once paramedics become more familiar with using it, the concerns they’ve shared with him will ebb.

“We want extra synthetic intelligence, we’d like extra info sharing, we have to take away extra of the the human error potential,” Cassista said.

“So I’m a giant proponent of expertise. We want innovation such as you would not imagine. So I’m not, I’m not in opposition to this. It’s about implementing it correctly. Like all good initiatives, it will probably reside or die in the way it’s being carried out.”