BC Ambulance cuts to Fernie and Invermere

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Effective March 1, the BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) Fernie and Invermere units will lose their second full-time permanent positions

By Lindsay McPherson – Invermere Valley Echo – February 27, 2008

Effective March 1, the BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) Invermere unit will lose their second full-time permanent position, which has been vacant for the past five years. In the past, when unit chief Peter Hecher was on his days off (a four on four off rotation), one of the unit’s part-time paramedics would have earned full paramedic wages on those shifts. Now the part-time paramedic filling in will earn their on-call wage of $10 an hour, but will receive full rate once dispatched, and each call carries a minimum of three hours at full wage.

?Ç‚ÄúThere will be no change in the service level,?Ç‚Äù said BC Ambulance Superintendent David Brooks, of the impact of the position cut. ?Ç‚ÄúThe public will not see any changes to the service level in Invermere.?Ç‚Äù

Prior to the government’s announcement eliminating seven full-time positions, there were 29 vacant full-time positions in the province. The BCAS has now committed funding toward filling 22 of those positions, which are all unit chiefs.

?Ç‚ÄúUnfortunately Invermere and Fernie each had one of those seven positions,?Ç‚Äù explained Brooks.

Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald raised the issue in the legislature last week, saying: ?Ç‚ÄúInstead of a properly paid full-time paramedic position, this government will reduce wages to foxtrot status, which is $10 per hour.

?Ç‚ÄúThe ministry will not retain paramedics in Invermere at that pay level. It will not happen.?Ç‚Äù

Brooks noted that the Invermere unit is a very active station and that the paramedics will likely be busy enough that they?Ç‚Äôll collect their full paramedic wage for most shifts.

?Ç‚ÄúI don?Ç‚Äôt think the impact on the paramedics will be great enough for anyone to leave the community,?Ç‚Äù stated Brooks.

While Brooks viewed the overall outcome of the situation as a ?Ç‚Äúgood news story,?Ç‚Äù Macdonald continues to state that the cuts will be a detriment to the Invermere unit.

?Ç‚ÄúThis is just another example of a government that has no consideration for the needs of rural communities. Not only are health services in our communities being cut, but the ambulance that we need to access some of those services is being further under-resourced,?Ç‚Äù declared Macdonald.

?Ç‚ÄúParamedics do a wonderful job under very trying circumstances, and expecting paramedics to survive on $10 an hour in a community like Invermere is just not reasonable.?Ç‚Äù

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