Urgences-santé will offer on line attestations of death across its territory

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 8, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Corporation d'urgences-santé is pleased to announce that, effective January 14, 2019, paramedics will work with doctors to apply an on line attestation of death procedure in Montréal and Laval. When a death occurs at a home or in a public place other than a hospital, paramedics will be able to call an Urgences-santé doctor to request an on line attestation of death.

Improved service to the public
The attestation of death procedure, which has been used successfully in various Quebec regions for several years, will result in better service to the public. With this new practice, families will no longer have to wait for a doctor to arrive on the scene to confirm the death of their loved one and for a funeral home to take possession of the body. Since paramedics will be able to validate the death with remote assistance from a doctor, this challenging process will be improved for families. Paramedics will also be able to provide additional assistance and support to grieving love ones during these difficult times.

"Our primary mission is to provide quality emergency paramedical care to residents of Montreal and Laval. We decided to implement this procedure at Urgences-santé, in collaboration with the Collège des médecins du Québec, as part of our efforts to offer more efficient service to the public. This initiative will allow us to improve the service offered to families by reducing waiting times at a challenging moment. It will also improve collaboration with all partners, including funeral homes. In short, it is good news for all involved," said Nicola D'Ulisse, President and CEO of Urgences-santé.

Increased recognition for paramedics and the role they play
The introduction of this new procedure is a good indicator of how the role of paramedics has evolved and how recognition for their contributions has grown. Paramedics are fully equipped to apply this procedure, by April 2019, 1000 paramedics will have received theoretical and practical training to validate a person's death with the help of a doctor by phone.

"The idea behind this new protocol is to use the right resources at the right time and place. Paramedics are already on the scene and they are qualified to carry out the on line attestation of death procedure. With this new practice, we're able to raise the profile of paramedics while making more efficient use of our resources," said Mr. D'Ulisse.

Urgences-santé would like to thank the Collège des médecins du Québec and the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec for their collaboration on this matter.

About Corporation d'urgences-santé
Corporation d'urgences-santé, which reports to the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, is the largest emergency paramedical service organization in Quebec. It employs 1,500 people, including more than 1,000 paramedics and 110 emergency medical dispatchers, who serve the populations of Montréal and Laval (2.5 million people).
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SOURCE Urgences-santé