B.C. paramedics warn staffing is at critical level over the weekend

The union representing ambulance paramedics across the province says staffing shortages could mean dozens of ambulances sitting empty over the weekend.

In an alert issued Friday evening, the Ambulance Paramedics of BC – CUPE 873 blames these shortages on what it says is a new overtime ban policy, put into effect Jan. 1 by its employer, BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS).

“Our members are reporting dozens and dozens of ambulances across the province sitting empty when they show up to work, and it’s not getting any better,” said union president Jason Jackson.

“We’ve tried to engage with BCEHS, PHSA [the Provincial Health Services Authority], and the government, and they still seem hesitant to admit we are reaching critical staffing levels again.”

The union says that on a typical day, 25 per cent of all ambulances are empty. The situation, it says, means longer wait times for everyone.

“We’re hearing that patients are sitting for hours on the floor, or with first responders when they need to be transported to hospital by paramedics immediately,” Jackson said.

“Now is not the time to cut front-line services.”

Union regional vice-president Ian Tait says hundreds of positions have gone unfilled, but insists those positions could have been filled in advance.

“You can’t rely on people you’re going to hire three months from now, or a year from now, to schedule into shifts tonight,” he said.

“You have existing staff. We’ve used those ways to staff ambulances for years. Why change that now?”

Tait said even in the best of times, unfilled paramedic positions cause a strain on other emergency responders.

“The one other thing that we’re seeing as well with our partners in public safety, like the fire department and the police officers, we’re noticing a lot of them sitting on scene for serious amounts of times, as well with patients that are less critical, when they should be cut loose and available to go to those emergency calls of their own,” he said.

Overtime hours are essential for keeping the system going, Tait says.

“If tomorrow, all paramedics said that they were never going to work overtime, the service would collapse within three hours,” he said.

UPDATE:

In a response to a request for comment, BCEHS says, “As part of daily operations, we closely monitor staffing levels across B.C. and take actions to fill shifts as quickly as possible when they are vacant. This is part of daily operations, with patient care at the forefront. We use a variety of means to fill shifts, including movement of resources and/or using overtime. We can confirm that overtime is one of the strategies that has been used throughout this week.”