Ambulance gap called critical

By Barb BrouwerMARKET NEWS Staff http://www.saobserver.net/

Jun 08 2007Accusations B.C.’s ambulance service is in need of repair are not justified, according to Health Minister and Shuswap MLA George Abbott. John Strohmaier, president of‑CUPE 873 Ambulance Paramedics, says the state of the service in the province is now in critical condition. “Ambulance systems have simply not kept pace with the growth in population,” says Strohmaier, pointing to the province’s‑aging population that puts enormous pressure on the service. “In area like yours (Salmon Arm) travelling long distances, I think they should have adequate staffing and ambulances to meet ever-increasing demands on ambulance services.”In question is a period of three or four hours in the early morning hours of May 6 when both Salmon Arm cars were responding to emergencies outside of the city, leaving no crew at the local ambulance station.

A third ambulance that was added to the local service in 2005 is not scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. During those hours, one two-person crew stays at the ambulance station while another back-up crew is on-call. With both Salmon Arm ambulances heading for Kamloops, the B.C. Ambulance Service dispatched the one Sicamous ambulance to go to Canoe, where it would be available to respond to calls in Sicamous or Salmon Arm. “This is a fairly common occurrence,” says Cragg, who maintains Salmon Arm’s call volume goes up about 10 per cent per year. “Globally, I don’t agree with how they (BCAS) present their figures. I think we’re thinly spread.” But Abbott disagrees. He points out that the ambulance service is a provincial organization, not a municipal or regional one. One of the benefits of that, he says, is that demand and capacity are balanced by having integrated mutual aid between all ambulance stations in the province. “If we have a surge in demand in some corner, we can shift neighbouring resources so we can have continuing coverage,” he says. “That’s the real benefit, to have one area‑cover off the other.”

Abbott says in the case of the May 6 incident, both Chase ambulances were responding to calls, so the Salmon Arm car was sent to Blind Bay to wait until the Chase ambulances were free. There was a third emergency in Chase and the Salmon Arm ambulance responded from Blind Bay. The second Salmon Arm car was then sent to Blind Bay for standby. But they too had an emergency call so it was at that point the Sicamous ambulance was deployed to Canoe. The third car could have been called out if necessary,” he says. “They normally don’t have multiple calls.” But Cragg has a different perspective. He says it reinforces an argument he has repeatedly had with BCAS. “If the car gets removed, you don’t wait for something to happen, you page another car in immediately, you can’t guess what’s going to happen.”

Meanwhile Cragg, who is the regional union rep, sits on a joint committee that is looking at resources across the province. He says the BC Ambulance Service is looking favourably at increasing resources. “Like any other part of the Ministry of Health, they’re prudent with their dollars,” he says. “At a recent meeting, the approach was positive. I think we’re going to go forward from here.” In terms of recruitment and retention, Strohmaier says many paramedics are close to retirement and he blames the lack of newcomers on the fact the ministry withdrew training funding some 18 months ago. There are a lot of fiscal pressures on the BCAS and as a way to cut costs that’s one of the things they’ve eliminated,” says Strohmaier. The problem is part-time paramedics simply can’t afford the $6,000 to $15,000 to train. Abbott, however, points out that in all other areas of medicine, students pay for their own training.