Ontario firefighters, paramedics launch duelling campaigns

An Ontario's firefightersassociation campaign advertisingfirefighters as experts inemergency medical care has angered the province's paramedics association.

With a provincial election looming,bothgroups havelaunched competing public relations campaigns and websitesto convince the public and political leaders about the importance of their work.

The Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association created Sendfirefighters.cain July to market the worth of fire services and to propose mandatory dispatch to every emergency medical call.

And this week the Ottawa Paramedics Association launched Sendthepros.ca, whichdefends what paramedics do and their unique expertise in medical situations.

Fire trucks expensive to maintain

Thisduel arises as a result of cost-cutting measures at the municipal level.

Firefighters are concerned their servicesmay be deemed moreexpensive and may be on the chopping block. They are proposing fire services be amalgamated with emergency medical services amidst concerns over cost-cutting at the municipal level.

Fire services cost almosttwo times more annually than emergency medical services, according to City of Ottawa numbers obtained by CBC News.

Ottawa'sfire services budget in 2011 is $130 million compared to $70 million for paramedics.

'It doesn't matter if it's a fire or car accident or a building collapse, we're trained to save lives.' Chief Fred Leblanc

Statistics from 2009 alsoshow the cost to operate a fire truck that year was about $256 per hour compared to $196 to keep an ambulance up and running a $60 difference.

But thegroup representing firefighters has tried to focus on its quicker response time and the versatility of its workforce.

In Ottawa during 2009, firefighters responded to calls, on average, just less than seven minutes after it was placed.

Paramedics arrivedat an average time ofeight minutes, 23 seconds and at six minutes and 30 seconds in the city's core for the rapid response team.

"It doesn't matter if it's a fire or car accident or a building collapse, we're trained to save lives," said Fred Leblanc, president of the firefightersassociation and a Kingston, Ont., fire chief.

"We respond alongside the paramedics for life-threatening medical emergencies every day because we often get there faster. We provide essential services to help patients and we fill the gap until paramedics arrive. These cuts could put the public at risk."

Paramedics campaign fights back

Ontario paramedics argue the firefighters campaign is false, countering with its own case to market emergency medical crews.

Paramedics want each service to continue to operate separately, stating the standard of care would diminish and taxpayers would end up paying a much larger bill.

"[The firefightersassociation is]asking municipalities to send firefighters to medical emergencies saying it will save lives. Unfortunately, that's just not the case," said union president Greg Furlong in a news release.

Paramedics also argue more than 90 per centof medical emergency calls go beyond the basic first aid and CPR skills firefighters possess. Examples includeinserting a breathing tube, administering medications or setting up an intravenous hook up.