Wednesday, Oct 15, 2014 06:00 am

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Are ambulance response times acceptable in the City of St. Albert? It depends who you ask. Recent coverage in the Gazette included a city councillor and fire chief who voiced concerns over increased response times for ambulances.

As previously reported, statistics show response times in St. Albert have, on occasion, approached 14 minutes since AHS took over ambulance service and mandated a "borderless" approach, meaning ambulances are dispatched from wherever available to whatever location calls in.

While AHS has data showing the average response time for life-threatening calls is six to seven minutes, the fact of the matter is this is only an average. Response times can be longer and, in the case of a St. Albert family (as reported in today's paper), more than double the average time.

It is unrealistic to expect all life-threatening ambulance calls to fall within that six-to-seven minute range, but more can and should be done to mitigate excessive response times. In a city of more than 60,000 residents, are two ambulances adequate? It is difficult to say, given the "borderless" approach to ambulance service. Having one more ambulance available, however, will invariably bring the response time down. If it saves just one life, it's money well spent.

A crime without conviction

The St. Albert community’s hearts went out to the McCann family this week after various gun and drug charges were dropped against Travis Vader, the only suspect in the murder of local residents Lyle and Marie McCann. They disappeared in the summer of 2010. The elderly couple went missing while on a trip to British Columbia to visit family. The burnt-out shell of their motorhome was discovered at a campground near Edson a few days after they went missing.

First degree murder charges were also stayed against Vader last spring in the McCanns’ disappearance. As Vader was the only suspect publicly identified by RCMP, this tragedy doesn’t look to be resolved soon. At the very least, stayed charges mean RCMP have until next spring to re-charge Vader if new evidence surfaces. If an entirely new investigation starts, it’s four years behind schedule.

But for the McCann family, they will have no reprieve. With a murder suspect walking free, and no other apparent suspects being considered, the McCann family does not have closure. May it be some consolation that the hearts of the entire community of St. Albert are with the McCanns.