Emergency Health Services

Emergency Health Services (EHS) is a division of the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness. It is responsible for the continual delivery, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of pre-hospital emergency health services in the province.

Pre-hospital emergency care and out of hospital primary and urgent care is provided through the EHS ground ambulance service and the EHS LifeFlight service.

Educational resources and programs designed to keep paramedics, nurses, physicians and other healthcare practitioners current and knowledgeable are widely available.

The EHS system in Nova Scotia has become an internationally recognized leader in the provision of pre-hospital care.

  • RESTORE
    Heart attack patients who call 911 will receive faster treatment through new training by paramedics. As part of government's Better Care Sooner health plan, the provincial pre-hospital STEMI Reperfusion Strategy (RESTORE) expanded province wide. Read more...

  • Extended Care Paramedic Project
    The Extended Care Paramedic program offers seniors in some nursing homes much of the same care they would receive in an emergency department, delivered by paramedics at their bedside. This improves the level of comfort for the patient, and reduces the need for non-emergency hospital transports. Read more...

  • Community Paramedicine
    The EHS Community Paramedicine Project is an innovative and successful model of primary health care delivery and has been well received by the residents of Long and Brier Islands.  This geographically challenged community now has access to quality primary health care services through the utilization of Paramedics and a Nurse Practitioner who provide primary health care in collaboration with an off-site physician. Read more...
  • MedicAlert Interchange Project
    MedicAlert Access--En Route in Nova Scotia allows paramedics to access the MedicAlert emergency health record from ambulances and include it as part of the electronic patient care record. The Siren ePCR software, developed by Medusa Medical Technologies, is used by paramedics to chart the care they provide to patients in the field. Paramedics can now call up a patient's MedicAlert record, to obtain critical data such as allergy, medication, and physician information. Read more...

     

Strategic Plan (Vision/Mission/Strategic Directions)

EHS is a division of the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness. Its key mandate is the delivery of health care to communities through the pre-hospital system . EHS is at the forefront of providing innovative community-based health care to Nova Scotians in collaboration with the Primary Health Care division.

Vision

Optimal and targeted systems of care for emergency and community-based health care services for the province of Nova Scotia

Mission

EHS will assure the best possible care to the communities we serve through collaboration, regulation, evaluation and research.

Strategic Directions

EHS provides evidence-based, high-quality, safe patient care.

EHS promotes excellence in the provision of innovative programs and services in an integrated and sustainable health system.

EHS collaborates with provincial, national and international stakeholders to identify and implement novel solutions to health system challenges.