EDMONTON – Emergency Health Services – Alberta (EHS-Alberta) is launching the Health Evaluation and Linkage Paramedic Unit (HELP-U) pilot on March 17, 2026, that will add six new non-transport vehicles into the EHS fleet.
Three new non-patient-transport vehicles in Calgary and three in Edmonton will be staffed by single Primary Care Paramedics (PCPs) who will respond to low-priority, low-acuity calls where patients are not expected to require urgent or emergent transport to hospital. HELP-U provides immediate on-scene assessment and treatment; this will help preserve ambulance availability for patients experiencing emergent or life-threatening events.
“HELP-U is about ensuring patients receive the right care in the right place,” says Les Fisher, Managing Director and Chief of EHS-Alberta. “By responding to appropriate low-acuity calls with non-transport units, we can keep ambulances available for time-critical emergencies while still delivering high-quality care and connecting patients to the services they need.”
In Alberta, close to 40 per cent of 911 calls to EHS-Alberta do not result in a patient being transported by ground ambulance to an emergency department or urgent care center, rather, patients are treated on scene or they decline treatment and transport.
HELP-U paramedics will respond in non-stretcher-capable vehicles equipped with standard paramedic medical equipment. They will:
If a patient’s condition requires urgent or emergent transport, additional EHS resources will be dispatched immediately to provide advanced care and transport.
“The HELP-U pilot is one of several initiatives aimed at supporting low acuity patients through assessment and shared decision-making on scene,” says Anne MacDonald, Chief, Operations, EHS-Alberta. “It will support on-scene assessment and connect patients to appropriate community-based care when safe while preserving emergency ambulance capacity for time-critical events.”
The HELP-U program aligns with similar low-acuity response models successfully adopted in other Canadian jurisdictions and builds on Alberta’s existing initiatives, including inter-facility transfer resources, 811/911 shared response models, integrating paramedics into EHS dispatch centres to implement a paramedic-led secondary triage process and Mobile Integrated Health programs.
The pilot will run for 12 months with the possibility to extend or expand units based on success.
Emergency Health Services - Alberta manages all aspects of the current EMS system, including overseeing and delivering air and ground ambulance services, interfacility transfers and dispatch operations, including EHS services delivered by contracted providers. EHS-Alberta is accountable for driving system improvements and meeting performance targets, concentrating on workforce sustainability and mental well-being for both staff and patients.
