Yellowknife (June 27/03) - If you've heard more ambulance sirens lately, that's because it's summertime.

"This is usually a busier time of year just due to the fact that there's nice weather," said Yellowknife Fire Dept. Lt. Chucker Dewar.

"More things are happening. A lot of people are doing construction. At this time of year, we see more sports injuries."

From Friday morning until Monday morning, the fire department responded to 16 ambulance calls. Twelve of these were for medevacs.

The rest were in-town responses.

Status aboriginal people don't pay for ambulance services: the federal government picks up the tab.

For others, the cost is usually paid for by a third party, said Stanton's director of operations Donna Zaozirny. "It could include employee benefits, it could include Workers Compensation," she said.

"If you don't have employee benefits, people are responsible for their own costs."

There are exceptions. If a person proves they can't pay through a means test conducted by a social worker, the territorial medical travel program covers the bill, she said.

Hospital to hospital trips are also covered by the same program, she said.

People without benefits who require an ambulance are never denied the service, she said.

"They would never leave you lying on the road but they would bill you for it," she said.

According to Dewar, the bill for emergency medical calls will cost you $175. A medical highway response bill is $1,000 plus $1 per kilometre. Medevac ambulance responses cost the health system $175.