Mayor of Barriere calling for changes after death of baby
Posted August 30, 2022 1:33 pm.
Last Updated August 30, 2022 5:45 pm.
The mayor of a small community near Kamloops is calling for changes after a baby died last week while waiting for an ambulance.
Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer says the system needs more flexibility around which first responders are allowed to take patients to the hospital.
He notes the town, which has a population of around 2,000 people, has a First Responders Society with a vehicle that can respond when the B.C. Ambulance Service can’t. However, Stamer says it’s not allowed to take any patients to the hospital.
He feels that has to change.
Stamer did not provide any details of the baby’s death on Thursday, only saying that there had been a “critical care incident.”
The head of the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. says there had a been a fully-staffed vehicle in Barriere, but it was diverted south to help in Kamloops.
BC Emergency Health Services says it’s reviewing the circumstances of what it calls a “heartbreaking loss.”
