Niagara’s paramedic service is hoping a plan could eventually be in place to modify the current system of responding to medical calls so that ambulances aren’t dispatched to people who really don’t need them.

At present, ambulances are sent to all calls that request one, and almost all those patients end up at local hospital emergency rooms.

Niagara Emergency Medical Services (EMS), operators of the Region’s paramedic service, and the Niagara Health System (NHS), continue to struggle with what can be lengthy delays in hospital ERs. Patients can wait for hours to be seen, forcing ambulances transporting those patients to queue up, making them and their paramedics unavailable to respond to calls.

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A LifeNet helicopter based in Douglas, apparently out of Southeast Arizona Medical Center, crashed Wednesday afternoon in Tucson, fatally injuring the three crew members.

The paramedic, flight nurse and pilot on the Eurocopter AS350 all died Wednesday. No patients were on the aircraft, according to Air Methods Corp., the Colorado-based company that works in support of LifeNet Arizona.

“Two of the patients were transported to University Medical Center immediately after the accident, but died after arriving,” said Katie Riley, UMC spokeswoman.

A witness said the pilot steered the heli-copter away from a house as it crashed, according to The  Associated Press.

Witnesses say the helicopter went down in front of a house on North Park Avenue just south of Glenn Street and burst into flames. No one on the ground was hurt.

Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident with full cooperation and support from Air Methods, said Aaron Todd, the company’s chief executive officer.

As of Wednesday afternoon, officials from Air Methods were en route to the accident scene.

“This is a sad day for all of us at Air Methods and we extend our heartfelt sympathy to the family and friends of our employees who perished while on duty,” Todd said.

BOSTON, July 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Alzheimer's Association announced that passage of legislation today by the State Senate to establish a Silver Alert program will help hundreds of thousands in Massachusetts.  The legislation, passed unanimously last week in the House, calls for program similar to Amber Alert with distinct differences.  Silver Alert will be activated when an adult with Alzheimer's or other type of dementia wanders.

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July 2010 - Understanding & Minimizing the Effects of Shift Work
About 30% of employed Canadians, approximately 3 million, work shift—non-standard work hours that cover a wide variety of work schedules. Shift work can consist of fixed shifts or shifts that rotate or change according to a set schedule.

About 30% of employed Canadians, approximately 3 million, work shift—non-standard work hours that cover a wide variety of work schedules. Shift work can consist of fixed shifts or shifts that rotate or change according to a set schedule. The length of shifts can vary between 8 to 12 hours. Shift work is critical to our economy due to our society’s need for around-the-clock provision of medical, transportation, and protection services. Shift work is also common in industrial work, mines, and in workplaces where technical processes cannot be interrupted without affecting the product and/or where expensive equipment is used more profitably when in constant operation.

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