Toronto EMS

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Toronto EMS

Toronto Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provides ambulatory and paramedic care for the city of Toronto. Before 1998 it was known as Metro Toronto Ambulance and shortly after as Toronto Ambulance.

History

The City of Toronto has operated an ambulance service directly on an uninterrupted basis since 1889, when the City's Health Department acquired ambulances to transport those with infectious diseases. Full-time emergency ambulance service began in 1888, with the provision of emergency ambulance service by the Toronto Police Ambulance Service, which eventually operated four horse-drawn vehicles. Prior to these two municipal initiatives, ambulance service was provided for the young city by a variety of means, including both hospital-based and private companies. This 'broad spectrum' approach to service delivery would continue for more than ninety years.

Toronto may very well be able to claim to have the first formally trained 'ambulance attendants' in North America, with the Toronto Police Ambulance Service staff receiving five days of formal training in their jobs from the St. John Ambulance Brigade in 1889. As the City grew and technology progressed, so did the ambulance service. The first motorized ambulance was actually purchased by a local funeral home in 1911, and the Toronto Police Ambulance Service began the conversion from horse-drawn to motorized vehicles in 1913, with the process largely completed by 1918. Over the years, the two City of Toronto departments would have their services supplemented by more than 130 individual ambulance operators, most of them private companies, and in suburban areas by several of the tiny, local Fire Departments. The two municipal services would finally be merged in 1933, when the Toronto Police Department turned the operation of their ambulances over to the Department of Public Health, and ended their involvement in the City's ambulance service. This service would grow again in 1953, as the result of the creation of the municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, dramatically expanding the required service area. Service would continue in this fashion until 1967, when the amalgamated City's suburban Fire Departments surrendered their ambulances, resulting in the evolution of the Department of Public Health Ambulance Service into the City-operated Department of Emergency Services (DES). Some private companies, and one operated by the Provincial government, would continue to operate in 'Metro' Toronto until 1975, although with centralized dispatch services provided by D.E.S..

The Metropolitan Toronto Department of Ambulance Services was created in 1975, and absorbed the five remaining private ambulance companies and single provincial service, providing a single, unified ambulance service in Metro Toronto. Known colloquially as Metro Toronto Ambulance (never its' official name)or simply 'Metro Ambulance' the service provided ambulance services from 1975 to 1998. Metropolitan Toronto was restructured during 1998, transforming it from a regional government overseeing six member municipalities into a single, unified city, and many municipal and regional services were restructured as a result. Metro Ambulance became Toronto Ambulance, and later adopted its current name, in order to reflect its' evolving role from primarily a provider of medical transportation to an actual provider of medical care. The service introduced its' first paramedics in 1984 (although experiments in pre-hospital advanced life support actually began in 1968), and introduced many other innovations, such as the specialty support units described in this article, many of which were of types originally conceived and pioneered by the service.

As of April 2005, the departments and commissioners were replaced by divisions under the city manager (and deputy managers).

Toronto EMS is now under Emergency Medical Services Division. It is the largest municipal EMS operation in Canada.

Operations

Toronto EMS operates in geographical locations in conjunction with area hospitals. Emergency service headquarters (for both fire and ambulance) is located at 4330 Dufferin Street.

A total of 41 stations serves a city of with a population of 3.5 million in an area of 650 square kilometres (251 square miles).

A list of EMS stations in Toronto: Northwest

01 – 63 Toryork Road
02 – 170 Plewes Road
03 – 843 Eastern Ave
04 – 153 Chatham Ave (Serves as the training facility for TEMS)
10 – 2015 Lawrence Avenue West – attached to TFS Station 442 (formerly City of York FD # 4)
11 – 1135 Caledonia Road
12 – 1535 Albion Road – near TFS Station 413
13 – 555 Martin Grove Road
14 – 321 Rexdale Boulevard
15 – 2753 Jane Street – attached to TFS Station 142 (formerly North York FD # 14)
16 – 4330 Dufferin St – EMS HQ
17 – 4135 Bathurst St – at Bathurst Street and York Downs Boulevard
18 – 643 Eglinton Avenue West
19 – 2660 Eglinton Avenue West
Marine Unit – 259 Queens Quay Way

Northeast

20 – 3300 Bayview Avenue – attached to TFS Station 111 (formerly North York FD # 13)
21 – 2075 Bayview Avenue
22 – 12 Canterbury Place – attached to TFS Station 114 (formerly North York FD # 15)
23 – 115 Parkway Forest Drive attached to TFS Station 115
24 – 3061 Birchmount Road
25 – 8500 Sheppard Ave E. (attached to TFS)
26 – 4331 Lawrence Avenue East – attached to Toronto Police 43 Division
27 – 900 Tapscott Road – attached to TFS Station 211 (formerly Scarborough FD # 15)
28 – 2900 Lawrence Avenue East – near Scarborough General Hospital
29 – 4800 Sheppard Avenue East (Behind TFS Station #243, in the trailer)

Southwest

31 – 4219 Dundas Street West
32 – 9 Clendennan Avenue
33 – 760 Dovercourt Road
34 – 674 Markham Street
35 – 265 Manitoba Drive – attached to TFS Station 346 at the Exhibition Place
36 – 339 Queens Quay West
37 – 1288 Queen Street West
38 – 259 Horner Avenue
39 – 155 The East Mall

Southeast

40 – 58 Richmond Street West
41 – 1300 Pape Avenue
42 – 1535 Kingston Road
43 – 126 Pape Avenue
44 – 887 Pharmacy Avenue
45 – 135 Davenport Avenue
46 – 105 Cedarvale Avenue
47 – 3600 St Clair Avenue East
48 – 235 Cibola Avenue
49 – 3100 Eglinton Avenue East

Fleet

Of the 242 vehicles are in the EMS fleet, 150 are ambulances. The rest are support vehicles (mainly buses and trucks). A list of vehicles used by EMS:

Product list and details
Make/Model	Type	Origin
Norco	mountain bikes
Aquila	mountain bikes
Crestline/Ford E350	van - Type III ambulance	/
Ford Crown Victoria	car - Fleet Vehicle
GMC Tahoe	suv- Emergency Response Vehicles
Ontario Bus Industries Orion I	bus - Emergency Support Unit #5
ElDorado Coach	bus - Emergency Support Unit #6
Crestline/ElDorado National Axxes 40' LF	bus - Emergency Support Unit # 10	/
Ford E-350	truck - Emergency Support Unit #7
Freightliner LLC-FL80	truck - Emergency Support Unit #8
Ford C800	truck - Emergency Power Unit
GMC Step Van	van - stores Van
Marine Unit 1	rescue craft with Volvo Penta Turbo Charged engines and shared with Toronto Police	/
Marine Unit 5	rescue craft shared with Toronto Police
Club Car golf cart	Cart style mini ambulance

Retired Fleet

Product list and details
Make/Model	Type	Origin
Ontario Bus Industries Orion I	bus - Emergency Support Unit #5
Ontario Bus Industries Orion I	bus - Telecommunications Unit
Henney Packard	Ambulance
OBI Orion II	Multi Patient Unit 4
40' OBI Orion I	Emergency Support Unit #6
Ford E-350 truck chassis	Emergency Support Unit #8
Dodge Ram van	Type 2 Ambulance
Ford Econoline E-350 van	Type 2 Ambulance
35' OBI Orion I	Multi Patient Unit
Ford C-880 Cab Over Style truck	Emergency Support Unit #7
General Motors Diesel Division TDH bus	Emergency Support Unit #5
Chevrolet Impala station wagon	supervisor car
GMC Step Van	Emergency Support Unit #2
Dodge Tradesman	ambulance
1976 Chevrolet Suburban	Emergency Support Unit #10
Dodge Diplomat station wagon	Emergency Response Unit
Dodge RAM tow truck	Tow Truck
GMC Jimmy	utility truck
1976 Dodge Charger car	Administration
1970s GMC Jimmy truck	Emergency Support Unit #1

Command

John Dean - Commissioner, Metro Toronto Ambulance 1975-1998
Ron Kelusky - General Manager, Toronto Ambulance Services (and later Toronto Emergency Medical Services) 1998-2003
Bruce Farr - Chief and General Manager, Toronto Emergency Medical Services 2003-present