A lack of BC Ambulance paramedics meant Bella Coola RCMP had to transport a deceased woman in a body bag in the back of their pickup truck to the hospital, on July 23, Samuel Schooner, chief of the Nuxalk Nation, said.
Schooner who spoke to Black Press Media on August 15 about ambulance staffing concerns, said because ambulances were more than two hours away, RCMP officers responded to the medical call where the 52-old woman was in cardiac arrest.
The officers provided CPR for more than an hour before a doctor from BC Ambulance Services, over the phone, pronounced her dead.
Once the declaration of death was made, police officers then had to obtain a body bag from Bella Coola hospital to transport the body in the back of a police vehicle to the morgue.
At the time of the emergency, there were no paramedics on duty in Bella Coola. The closest ambulance was in Anahim Lake, which according to Google Maps, is one hour and 43 minutes away. However, Schooner said it takes longer than that to travel between the two locations.
“Two hours if we’re lucky, depending on road conditions.”
