City firefighters believe restoring pre-pandemic emergency services will benefit residents in medical emergencies.
The agreement, between Sarnia Fire Rescue and Lambton EMS, has firefighters respond to certain medical calls to assist paramedics.
The protocol was modified at the beginning of the pandemic with the fire service being dropped from some calls to limit all but absolutely necessary interaction between staff and the public.
SPFFA President Matt Madere said the two services work well together, and that reinstating the agreement is the right thing to do.
He said when someone believes they're in a medical emergency, the person is expecting someone to come fast and that they're happy with whomever shows up.
"It gives [residents] the confidence that if you're having a life-threatening emergency, help is coming and it's coming quick," he said. "The calls we aren't going to now are considered life-threatening possible emergencies, and we need to ensure help is getting there, we're getting there in a timely manner and able to assist the medics and get the patient off to hospital in efficient time."
In December, the city fire service announced it was ready to resume the TRA and Sarnia council called for the full emergency response to be restored.
Madere said it's important to note that the two services do not overlap, and that this isn't a firefighter versus paramedic thing. He added that firefighters can typically respond to emergencies ahead of paramedics because of firehall placements.
Lambton County Emergency Medical Services Manager Steve Pancino said the change was made to protect paramedics, firefighters, and the public from interactions that aren't required.
Pancino said so far, the change really hasn't impacted Lambton EMS.
"Because these are medical 9-1-1 calls, people are calling for an ambulance and they're still receiving that ambulance, so it hasn't impacted Lambton EMS at all," he said. "We have taken the opportunity to review all of the calls that would have been in the old agreements, and we reviewed those and found no negative patient outcomes. We've had our medical oversight physicians also partake in that review and they've reached the same conclusion."
Pancino said they continue to deliver the service that the community expects to receive.
"I think what that demonstrates is that the direction and the advice and the expert opinion provided by the medical physicians has borne out because there hasn't been any negative patient outcomes."
Pancino added that they do value having a TRA with Sarnia fire and all county fire departments.
"When medically necessary, and when the medical evidence suggests that the community benefits from having those agreements in place, we absolutely want the fire department to respond to those calls where we know it makes an impact. So we absolutely do want an agreement that's backed by the medical evidence."
Under the modified response, Sarnia Fire Rescue is only required to attend motor vehicle collisions where Lambton EMS has been dispatched, calls where vital signs are absent or an individual is unresponsive or unconscious, or calls requesting paramedics for assistance.