Emergency medical services

In emergencies, sick or injured people should be taken to a hospital emergency department right away. Emergencies are health problems that require immediate care (for example, a broken arm or heart attack). The Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) pays for treatment in emergency departments.

Call the emergency number for your area (911 in most parts of the province) if you need an ambulance to take a sick or injured person to the hospital. Ambulance costs are not paid by AHCIP and can be quite expensive. However, the cost of an ambulance may be covered in some cases:

• Private insurance plans, including Alberta Blue Cross, may pay for all or most of the cost of an ambulance ride.
   
• Vehicle insurance plans may pay ambulance costs if you are involved in a collision.
   
• Alberta Employment and Immigration will pay if you receive Income Support.
   
• Some employee benefit plans cover ambulance costs.
   
• AHCIP provides Alberta Blue Cross coverage for ambulance service for senior citizens (people 65 years of age and older).

Payment is not required at the time of the trip. No one will be refused ambulance service if they cannot afford to pay. Individuals are sent a bill afterwards and payment arrangements can be made for those who have difficulty paying.

Not all hospitals have emergency departments and not all emergency departments are open 24 hours a day. It is a good idea to find out where the nearest emergency departments are located and put this information near a telephone where you can find it quickly in an emergency.

If you don't know the location and hours of the emergency department nearest you and an emergency occurs, then the people answering your 911 emergency call or Health Link can direct you to the nearest hospital emergency department.

Date Updated: Nov 01, 2007
RDP-585