I recently heard on the radio that an ambulance in Québec City took longer than six minutes to reach the site of an accident. Several intervening bodies, believing this timeline to be excessive, were demanding more money so as to reduce response time based on this singular event.

Having grown up in the country, this type of commentary always surprises me. Actually, a 6-minute response time, even 15 minutes would be warmly welcomed in several parts of the province. Who hasn’t heard about the friend of a friend of a friend who waited forever for an ambulance to arrive? How many people have died because of this city-country double standard? I remember a story about a young woman living in the Eastern townships who was in bad shape after a car accident. Almost one hour went by between the initial emergency call and the ambulance’s arrival. The poor woman’s chances for survival would certainly have been seriously compromised should a local nurse not been on hand to help.

The idea is not to undress the city to dress up the countryside, but this double standard raises some questions and may give rise to feelings of inequality. The problem is that if there was an ambulance added to the system, it may not necessarily be assigned to a rural area. In fact, an economist would probably point out that any additional ambulance should be placed where it will have the most impact in terms of rescues and lives saved. This means that an additional ambulance would probably save more lives in a densely populated area such as a city rather than in a rural environment.

Taking this into consideration, are rural areas condemned to be the poor relative of emergency care? Not necessarily. However, we should probably address the problem differently. From a framework of budget restrictions, it would be unrealistic to aim for a response time that is just as quick in a rural environment as it is in Montreal. I am not alleging that I have the answer, but in order to further explore the issue we could look forward to recognizing people, in each village along the countryside, who have proven healthcare skills and are available to work. These people could perhaps be retired nurses or ambulance technicians, or even people who either already have or want to develop first aid skills. In theory, they could receive a nominal fee, be given a first aid kit and a pager paid for by the State, similar to companies that are required to have a certain number of employees with first aid training. This approach would cost very little and would also allow us to employ underused human resources from rural environments, provide immediate first aid and even save lives while the ambulances are on their way.

This suggestion is based on observation, because my mother, now retired, is basically living this situation. In fact, she was often urgently called to the village to either save a hand, stabilize a bad break or save the life of a child in respiratory distress. This is all done without any medals, formal recognition and often at the person’s own expense (cost of first aid material included in the first aid kit), but this type of work always involves a great deal of thanks and appreciation from the people living in these small towns. So why not make this position official and maximize its effect? If you remember the Québec movie “La Grande Séduction” you will definitely understand the importance of rapid emergency response in a rural environment. It’s critical to maintaining the next generation and even attracting young families to the countryside.

Until we make this happen, and in the event those who live in the country believe that their lives aren’t worth the same as those of city dwellers, here’s a little consolation in this post-election period - it seems that a vote from the rural community is worth more than one from the city!

Maurice Doyon is an associate professor and the Director for the Master’s Program in the department of Agricultural Economics and Consumer Sciences at the Université Laval. He is also a member of the Centre de recherche en économie agroalimentaire (CRÉA) with the same department, and an auxiliary professor with the University of Maine, has a Fellowship with CIRANO (interuniversity centre of research, liaison, and transfer of knowledge on the analysis of organizations) in Montreal and is an associate researcher with the Institute of Neutraceuticals and Functional Foods. Furthermore, he holds a Doctorate in Applied Economics from Cornell University as well as a Master’s degree from this same institution, Mr. Doyon has received more than fifteen grants and distinctions throughout his academic career.