B.C. paramedic shortage may lead to longer wait times during heatwave

As temperatures continue to soar across the Lower Mainland and B.C., the province’s paramedics are warning that some people could be waiting longer than usual for help.

Troy Clifford, president of Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers of BC, says the ongoing staffing shortage on the frontline has hit a crisis point. He says there are not enough paramedics or ambulances on the road to get to every call in a timely manner.

He adds, like most industries in B.C., they’re struggling to recruit and retain staff.

“We’re about 50 per cent full-time and part-time in this province right now. We have almost 1,000 vacancies across the province in rural, remote, metro, and urban centres and that’s actual positions — we need to hire that many paramedics.”


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Call volumes for help tend to spike during a weather event like this. Clifford says that scares him, as his members struggle to respond to the usual 2,000 calls a day, which include overdoses, those who get into trouble on the water, and other general emergencies.

“Those spikes when you’re already running at bare bones capacity, or less, we don’t have the capacity to absorb those spikes and those additional calls, so it’s definitely challenging for us. The other big thing is really making sure we’re looking after the well-being of the paramedics and the responders because if we’re not healthy, mind and body, we can’t get to those patients and that’s not good.”

Clifford says bluntly that paramedics are understaffed and overwhelmed.

“My hope is we’ll be able to mitigate that and there will be no serious calls that are delayed but unfortunately, we are seeing delays regardless of [the heat] every day, so I suspect when we have more calls, it’s not going to get better and that’s my fear.”

E-Comm, which runs 9-1-1 call centres in the province, is pleading with people to only call if it’s an emergency.

“During last long weekend’s week’s heatwave, on average our call volumes were approximately 15 per cent higher than the similar time last year, and about 10 per cent higher than the weekend prior. However, overall, our staffing levels were able to meet the needs and demands on our system,” E-Comm said in a statement to CityNews.

If you are in need of 9-1-1 assistance, E-Comm is reminding you to think before you call, know where you are to better assist crews in getting to you, take steps to avoid calling 9-1-1 by mistake, and don’t hang up if you’ve called the emergency line

As for the forecast, CityNews Meteorologist Michael Kuss says temperatures will rise quickly Monday.

“It gets up to 25 degrees shoreside and 31 degrees inland and feeling 30 to 35 degrees, so stay cool if you can. Lots of water, sunscreen if you’re outside in that blazing sun with the UV up in the eight-range.”

The overnight low will be about 17 degrees. Tuesday’s forecast will be much like Monday’s, but some rain is expected to follow on Wednesday with cooler temperatures.

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