Prince George’s trusted eye in the sky for critical care on pace for 2,000 patient transfers this year

Air ambulance service in Prince George is seeing a large spike in demand.

According to data from BC Emergency Health Services, paramedics attached to Station 580 in the city completed over 1500 air ambulance patient transfers by helicopter and airplane last year.

The projected figure for air ambulance transfers slated for this year is 2,031 based on two months of data when both primary care and advanced care flight paramedics were deployed in the northern capital.

Primary care and advanced care flight paramedics focus on caring for patients with low or medium acuity health needs during air transport between health care facilities.

These paramedics may respond to emergency events in some cases, but the vast majority of their work involves caring for patients during interfacility transfers.

These new paramedic roles increase our capacity to transport patients by air across the province, while also allowing paramedics to grow in their careers by taking on new specialized roles.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, critical care paramedics worked a single, 12-hour shift each day at Station 580 in Prince George

Now critical care paramedics are on duty 24/7 in Prince George.

In addition, there are two-12 hour shifts each day for advanced care flight paramedics and primary care flight paramedics.

The 400% increase in air resources references the increase in staffing.

There is a total of three aircraft in Prince George – one helicopter and two fixed-wing aircraft.

Earlier this week, Mayor Simon Yu and members of Prince George city council attended a lunch and learn event with BCEHS at the Prince George Airport.