Edmonton doctor sent ambulance bill after helping save patient's life; charge later cancelled

An Edmonton doctor who called an ambulance while helping save a patient's life has raised questions about Alberta's ambulance billing system after receiving the transportation bill himself.

According to Alberta Health Services, the incident happened on June 19 during a basketball practice at a school in the Riverbend area. Dr. Ian Sutanto said a fellow player suddenly collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest. He immediately performed CPR while an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) available at the school was used to assist before emergency crews arrived.

The patient was transported to hospital by ambulance. However, Dr. Sutanto later received the ambulance bill, despite not being the patient. After the case drew public attention, Alberta Hospital and Surgical Health Services, along with Emergency Health Services (EHS), cancelled the bill.

Dr. Sutanto said the incident highlights concerns about Alberta's ambulance fee policies. He is calling on the provincial government to make ambulance services free, or significantly subsidized, similar to systems in some other Canadian provinces.