“We get substandard care here from BC Ambulance, not because of the paramedics but because of the lack of full-time positions in Prince George.”
Those are the words of Cherrie Cloarec, a Registered Nurse with 17 years of experience in Emergency Rooms in BC and Alberta.
According to Cloarec, in November alone there are 125 Paramedic shift vacancies in PG, most of which are night shifts she warned, “they are so short for our population it’s dangerous.”
“For a night shift in PG, you’re looking at two ambulances for the entire region,” she noted, “Prince George really needs some help.”
She explains the reasoning behind this dangerous shortage is because the system relies heavily on part-time workers.
“Currently, the practice is if you want to be a full-time paramedic, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been a part-time worker for 20 years, you first have to go to Vancouver for and work there,” she explained this is why the system relies on part-time staff.
One must work in Vancouver for a minimum of six months and there is no guarantee that if a part-time worker leaves their former position that they will get hired back.
She admits that 30 years ago it would make sense to send paramedics down to Vancouver for training but now PG is big and busy enough from the older population, overdose rates and other external variables that it is just unnecessary now.
However, Cloarec isn’t the only one concerned with the alarming lack of EMS services.
Hans Dysrasz, Executive Director of BC HEROS, a non-profit society focused on improving the province’s emergency rescue medical system, says this adversity presents itself province-wide.
“In comparison to other high functioning EMS models worldwide, the province is grossly understaffed I estimate that BC is at least 3,000 paramedics and ambulance attendants short,” he said.
According to Dysarsz, BC employs about 300 fully trained paramedics, the rest are only trained in basic life support, which often hinders the work they can legally practice in emergencies.
The Emergency Health Services Act, implemented in 1974, is what he attributes the lack of paramedics to.
“It’s been like this for 46 years, the act took away the ability for all other (non-paramedic) First Responders to provide EMS care province-wide,” noted Dysrasz.
In many other jurisdictions, it is legal for anyone with a medical license to assist in transporting patients to a hospital, however, BC’s current regulations have reserved that right to about 3,800 people, most of whom are classified as part-time workers.
Both Cloarec and Dysarsz shared praise for Alberta’s governing on pre-hospital care.
Dysarsz’s reasoning is because Alberta has 75,000 medical professionals and First Responders, all of whom can administer treatment and transport a patient to the hospital, whereas in BC, only about 3,800 of the total 80,000 medical professionals and First Responders have this responsibility.