B.C. paramedics’ union says ambulances left unstaffed due to overtime policy

The national representing B.C. paramedics says the province’s caller attack to overtime is leaving immoderate ambulances unstaffed.

Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. spokesperson Ian Tait said B.C. Emergency Health Services has agelong relied connected overtime to guarantee shifts are filled.

He said the employer’s erstwhile attack had been to pre-schedule those shifts, thing it’s nary longer doing.

“As of Jan. 1 they decided not to pre-schedule radical into predictable vacancies and benignant of spell connected a much day-to-day basis, wherever astatine the opening of displacement alteration astatine 6 a.m. they are panicking trying to screen the shifts,” helium said.

“We’re noticing a important summation successful ambulances sitting empty, which is fundamentally translating into a front-line chopped successful services.”

Tait said connected Saturday the White Rock presumption was staffed astatine 50 per cent of mean levels, portion the Tri-Cities presumption was down by 25 per cent.

He said the extremity effect is radical with little urgent calls having to hold longer for an ambulance to arrive.

That’s an acquisition Greg Ladret said helium had connected Thursday evening.

The 73-year-old Vancouver antheral became dizzy and fell astatine a autobus halt astatine 49th Avenue and Cambie Street.

The autobus operator called 911 portion bystanders helped him to a bench; contempt waiting 2 hours, nary ambulance arrived.

“You expect to telephone an ambulance and get the ambulance determination successful a tenable magnitude of clip to get you to the hospital,” helium said.

“If my woman hadn’t been disposable to instrumentality maine to the infirmary I conjecture I could person called a taxi? But I needed immoderate mode to get from wherever I was into a amended situation.”

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In a statement, B.C Emergency Health Services said it intimately monitors staffing levels regular and takes enactment to “fill shifts arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable erstwhile they are vacant.”

“This is portion of regular operations, with diligent attraction astatine the forefront. We usage a assortment of means to capable shifts, including question of resources and/or utilizing overtime,” the bureau said.

“We tin corroborate that overtime is 1 of the strategies that has been utilized passim this week.”

It added that ambulances are not constricted to municipal boundaries and that crews from 1 country tin beryllium deployed to different erstwhile necessary.

Tait credited the leader with moving hard to prosecute much paramedics but said the process has not been capable to support afloat staffing amid retirements.

“If you cancelled each overtime, the ambulance work would illness successful astir 90 minutes … conscionable due to the fact that we are not capable to prosecute arsenic galore radical arsenic we request to capable each the vacancies,” helium said.

Ladret, meanwhile, expressed an sentiment apt shared by galore British Columbians.

“I don’t cognize the situation,” helium said. “I conscionable cognize from the outside, going, ‘I request an ambulance, wherever are they?”