A Call For Help

[adventuresource]

In the January 17th and March 21st editions of The Free Press there was an article and a letter to the editor printed that both portrayed the BC ambulance station here in Fernie in a negative light. We would like to take a moment to shine the light back on our station and our crew. In response to January 17th?Ç‚Äôs article ?Ç‚ÄòFernie firefighters to the rescue?Ç‚Äô which highlighted the issue of our station being understaffed, we would like to clarify that yes we are short staffed and having to shut down full or partial cars unfortunately is not an unusual situation. We would like to explain why we are so short staffed and to emphasize that we are not understaffed because our crew doesn?Ç‚Äôt care, we are understaffed because our crews care too much. Crews in Fernie frequently work until they reach their WCB maximum of working 16 hours out of a 24-hour time period. When staff reach 16 hours we must take a mandatory 8 hours off which often leaves ambulances short of a full crew, we also must work back to back shifts on occasion to keep cars staffed and if we get a call at the end of one shift, it can leave the next shift temporarily short. B.C. Ambulance itself has stated that the Fernie station is in a staffing crisis, and yet we are having difficulties attracting new staff due in part to the high cost of living in Fernie, and the rate of pay our paramedics receive.

Another issue brought up in the article was the fact that we rely on the fire department to drive for us when we are short staffed. This is true; it is through a provincial program called the First Responder Program, which is in place for circumstances like the one outlined in the article. We do have a great working relationship with the Fernie Fire Department and we appreciate their help on many calls, especially since our staffing levels are so strained.

The Fernie station currently has 2 full time vacancies, which our part time staff is helping to fill, and we are waiting a decision from BC Ambulance on the fate of these 2 positions. As a staff, our crew here would like to see the positions filled and are actively trying to defend the need for these positions. With the full time positions filled our staffing shortage would be eased and our community would benefit from having full time staff at our local station. The BC Ambulance service is not keeping pace with our community growth, as we have fewer staff now than we did 7 years ago and 7 years ago we had 2 full time employees at our station where today we have no full timers. Our call volumes are going up every year and to quote our station statistics in 1997 our station did 649 responses, in 2001 we did 1050 responses, in 2006 we did 1249 responses and for 2007 we have done 394 responses as of March 31st which is up 171 responses from the same time last year.

Our crewmembers here in Fernie are above all else members of this community, we volunteer in Fernie, we raise our families here, and we care about this town and it?Ç‚Äôs people. In response to the letter to the editor, we too are broken-hearted over what our service is doing to Fernie, but our hands are tied. Our pagers go off and we respond as quickly as we can, what the public needs to understand is that we are at the command of our dispatch which is in Kamloops and we go where and when they send us. We are frustrated too and would like to see improvements made to our system and we need the support of our community to help us take care of our town. Fernie is designated a 2 car station and we do staff both our cars, however long distance transfers like Lethbridge and Calgary (which happen almost daily) put a strain on our service and when one crew is in Alberta or in Cranbrook with a patient it means that only one car is left available to our community. Patient transfers are necessary and we are happy to provide this service, but if our first car goes out of town the response time of an ambulance goes down as second car crewmembers are on pager, not located at the station like our first car is.

We agree with Joyce Hutchinson in her letter to the editor that when an ambulance is needed there should be no debate, an ambulance should be sent. However it is not up to those of us serving our community it is up to our dispatch in Kamloops, as to what ambulance goes where and when. We would love to respond to a call in moments but by the time the 911 call filters from Kelowna RCMP dispatch into Kamloops BC Ambulance dispatch and back to our station time has gone by which is unavoidable in small rural communities. It pains and frustrates our crew members to have to shut down a car or leave it understaffed because someone has just been on a 16 hour transfer to Calgary and must book off work and no one else is available to take the pager or shift. So we ask not for your criticism but for your support, and if you are frustrated like we are than please forward your concerns to our management or your local MLA as our hands are tied.

[seasonsgreetings]

This must be a very frustrating situation for you. I can’t speak for the community but I am sure that no-one blames the local ambulance crew for the current state of the ambulance service. I read the articles you mention and I saw them as an attack on the decision-makers, not the paramedics themselves. No-one has ever faulted the level of medical care they have received when attended by the ambulance service, the only criticisisms have been directly about the response time and the lack of coverage – topics that I’m sure everyone is aware is out of your hands.

Similar complaints are being made regarding the Elk Valley Hospital, but it’s about the levels of staffing, not the quality of care provided and certainly not an attack on the wonderful over-stretched staff who work there.

I am horrified at the numbers you quote and I can’t believe with the expansion of the ski resort and the recent boom in mining that your staffing levels have dropped will your call rates have sky-rocketed. Most of the ski resort calls (a huge chunk of your work, I’m sure) would be insurance claims, so there must be money coming in – I can’t understand why it’s not being funneled back to us. I am confused about one part of your post – the third paragraph – you mention that there are two full time vacancies. Why have these not been filled? Is it because BC Ambulance are not accepting applications or because there are no qualified applicants? Do we need more people to train or do we need the funding to be higher? Is it a question or salary, location or politics?

You have asked us to help, write letters and emails to our MLA and your management. I’m sure if I hunted around I could find the email and mail addresses, but we are all busy and if you are asking for help you need to make it easy for us. I asked in a previous forum for the contacts or a petition to sign, and got no response. Your posts, while I’m sure unintentionally, come accross as defensive when you should be trying to rally the community. Please post the contacts we need to write the letters to; start a petition; write a body of text with the pertinent points and accurate facts that people can copy and paste into an email and forward with their own name to the appropriate email addresses. Help us to help you!

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