Grey County council has approved two significant investments for paramedic services.
At its meeting on Sept. 12, county council voted unanimously to approve the award of a tender to construct a new paramedic base in Durham. Council also gave its blessing to a plan to purchase 11 new mechanical CPR devices.
Council agreed to award the tender for the construction of a new paramedic base in Durham in West Grey to Domm Construction Ltd for a total cost of $2,458,013. This was slightly over the budget of $2.4 million.
However, the budget for the total project, which includes land acquisition and preparation and professional fees, came in at $2,933,000, which was under the $3 million total budget.
The project will be funded from a reserve fund, development charges and a debenture.
The new base will be located on property located on Highway 4 in Durham. The county acquired the property from West Grey, which is building a new local police station on the portion of the property it continues to own.
Deputy CAO Randy Scherzer said energy efficiencies have been built into the design of the new paramedic base. He said the project will ensure the rooftop of the building is ready for solar panel installation. County staff have applied for a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for solar panels. Should that project proceed, the new base will effectively be a net zero facility.
The new base should be completed before the end of 2025.
Council also approved a staff report asking for permission to sole source the purchase of eight new mechanical CPR devices that will be added to the county’s fleet of ambulances.
The purchase had to come to council for permission as the total cost of $168,876.80 was $52,449.03 over budget. In addition, all sole-source purchases over $75,000 must come to council for approval. The county is purchasing the units from Zoll Canada.
Kevin McNab, director of paramedic services for the county, said the mechanical CPR devices are significant advantages for local paramedics. The devices offer safety advantages for paramedics and reduce the physical demand on first responders.
“The effectiveness is no different from manual CPR,” said McNab, who noted that the machines allow CPR to be continued while paramedics are extricating and moving a patient.
The new machines have a projected lifespan of 8-10 years.
The machines are being purchased using funds from the county’s Safe Restart Reserve. Staff said the budget shortfall would be funded from the same reserve, which has a balance of more than $560,000.
