Ambulance service needs to step up to honour mandate of providing ambulance service — retired staff
Various Haida Gwaii and North Coast locations have ‘tremendous ambulance problems’ like all other rural areas, including Prince Rupert, Sandspit Fire Chief Robert Ellis said on August 12.
There is currently only one paramedic servicing Sandspit, which leaves holes in emergency coverage and the necessity for community volunteers to drive the ambulance when it is called for. Ellis said he is the only Class 4 driver’s licence holder in his fire crew and the three community members he knows of have their licence from driving taxis or vans.
“Whenever there’s an ambulance call, we often are called upon to drive the ambulance; otherwise, it wouldn’t go anywhere. This has been happening since November because apparently, the government, ambulance service, and BCEHS can’t figure this out,” he told Black Press Media.
Before November, Sandspit ambulance staff could work part-time shifts, but with the new Schedule on Call (SOC) system of full-time positions, this is no longer an option, so many staff have left, he said.
