Bc Premier John Horgan Cites Ambulance Investment As He Deals With Infant Death Kamloops News

BC Premier John Horgan pauses while speaking during a funding announcement for a planned secondary school, in Coquitlam, BC, Tuesday, August 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Premier John Horgan said he was devastated by the recent death of an infant while waiting for an ambulance in Barriere, BC, adding that his government had made a “significant investment” in rural and remote medical transport. “My heart goes out to the family grieving the loss of a child,” she said of the baby who died Thursday in the central B.C. community. He said the province was “aware” of the ambulance shortage and had added ground and air transport options to remote locations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Horgan said the province was working with firefighters and the paramedic association to ensure first responders had adequate training and were able to act quickly in what he called “extremely difficult times.” “We don’t have enough people to provide the services that British Columbians expect, and the only way to do that is to train more,” he said. Existing staff should also be encouraged “to continue working beyond the time they would like”, he said. Peter Milobar, the Kamloops-North Thompson MP who represents Barriere and is the Opposition BC Liberal’s finance critic, said the infant’s death was a tragedy that underscored the need for more ambulances across the province. “As usual with the NDP, they’re talking about the dollar figures as if that’s the fix-it-all without the real tangible effect actually happening,” she said in Victoria after the release of BC’s public accounts. “(People) want to see deliveries. They want to see more ambulances in their communities.” On Monday, Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer had asked for flexibility around which first responders are allowed to transport patients to the hospital. Stamer said his community has a first responder society with a vehicle that could respond when BC Ambulance Service could not, but the society did not have the ability to transport patients to hospital. “That has to change and that has to change today,” he said in an interview. But Drew McMartin, president of Barriere First Responders, a nonprofit that responds to medical emergencies, said he doesn’t see that as a viable solution. “First responders are not the answer to solving the problem of ambulance service,” he said in an interview Tuesday, confirming that his members were called to respond to the eight-month-old in cardiac arrest last week. Troy Clifford, president of BC Ambulance Paramedics, agreed. “The system works very well with first responders and volunteer response teams, but their role is not to treat and transport,” he said. “We need ambulances that are staffed with two paramedics who can treat and transport someone in an emergency,” he said. Clifford said his agency will continue to deal with what he called a “province-wide staffing crisis.” He said staffing problems had left communities like Barriere without adequate ambulance coverage for long periods of time. “It’s not unique to one particular community. It’s across the province,” he said. “The Prime Minister is right that the current government has invested a significant amount of money into the ambulance service, but unfortunately, this really shows how behind and understaffed we were.” Clifford said throughout BC, some agricultural resources were allocated to nearby urban centers, leaving their home communities understaffed. “That has to change,” he said. The biggest problem, Clifford said, is the inability to recruit and retain paramedics, with more than 1,000 vacancies across B.C. “We rely on agencies that are not trained or in the scope to do this (and) that provide less than optimal patient care,” he said.

title: “Bc Premier John Horgan Cites Ambulance Investment As He Deals With Infant Death Kamloops News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-23” author: “Peter Poloskey”

BC Premier John Horgan pauses while speaking during a funding announcement for a planned secondary school, in Coquitlam, BC, Tuesday, August 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Premier John Horgan said he was devastated by the recent death of an infant while waiting for an ambulance in Barriere, BC, adding that his government had made a “significant investment” in rural and remote medical transport. “My heart goes out to the family grieving the loss of a child,” she said of the baby who died Thursday in the central B.C. community. He said the province was “aware” of the ambulance shortage and had added ground and air transport options to remote locations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Horgan said the province was working with firefighters and the paramedic association to ensure first responders had adequate training and were able to act quickly in what he called “extremely difficult times.” “We don’t have enough people to provide the services that British Columbians expect, and the only way to do that is to train more,” he said. Existing staff should also be encouraged “to continue working beyond the time they would like”, he said. Peter Milobar, the Kamloops-North Thompson MP who represents Barriere and is the Opposition BC Liberal’s finance critic, said the infant’s death was a tragedy that underscored the need for more ambulances across the province. “As usual with the NDP, they’re talking about the dollar figures as if that’s the fix-it-all without the real tangible effect actually happening,” she said in Victoria after the release of BC’s public accounts. “(People) want to see deliveries. They want to see more ambulances in their communities.” On Monday, Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer had asked for flexibility around which first responders are allowed to transport patients to the hospital. Stamer said his community has a first responder society with a vehicle that could respond when BC Ambulance Service could not, but the society did not have the ability to transport patients to hospital. “That has to change and that has to change today,” he said in an interview. But Drew McMartin, president of Barriere First Responders, a nonprofit that responds to medical emergencies, said he doesn’t see that as a viable solution. “First responders are not the answer to solving the problem of ambulance service,” he said in an interview Tuesday, confirming that his members were called to respond to the eight-month-old in cardiac arrest last week. Troy Clifford, president of BC Ambulance Paramedics, agreed. “The system works very well with first responders and volunteer response teams, but their role is not to treat and transport,” he said. “We need ambulances that are staffed with two paramedics who can treat and transport someone in an emergency,” he said. Clifford said his agency will continue to deal with what he called a “province-wide staffing crisis.” He said staffing problems had left communities like Barriere without adequate ambulance coverage for long periods of time. “It’s not unique to one particular community. It’s across the province,” he said. “The Prime Minister is right that the current government has invested a significant amount of money into the ambulance service, but unfortunately, this really shows how behind and understaffed we were.” Clifford said throughout BC, some agricultural resources were allocated to nearby urban centers, leaving their home communities understaffed. “That has to change,” he said. The biggest problem, Clifford said, is the inability to recruit and retain paramedics, with more than 1,000 vacancies across B.C. “We rely on agencies that are not trained or in the scope to do this (and) that provide less than optimal patient care,” he said.

title: “Bc Premier John Horgan Cites Ambulance Investment As He Deals With Infant Death Kamloops News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-27” author: “Linda Carl”

BC Premier John Horgan pauses while speaking during a funding announcement for a planned secondary school, in Coquitlam, BC, Tuesday, August 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Premier John Horgan said he was devastated by the recent death of an infant while waiting for an ambulance in Barriere, BC, adding that his government had made a “significant investment” in rural and remote medical transport. “My heart goes out to the family grieving the loss of a child,” she said of the baby who died Thursday in the central B.C. community. He said the province was “aware” of the ambulance shortage and had added ground and air transport options to remote locations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Horgan said the province was working with firefighters and the paramedic association to ensure first responders had adequate training and were able to act quickly in what he called “extremely difficult times.” “We don’t have enough people to provide the services that British Columbians expect, and the only way to do that is to train more,” he said. Existing staff should also be encouraged “to continue working beyond the time they would like”, he said. Peter Milobar, the Kamloops-North Thompson MP who represents Barriere and is the Opposition BC Liberal’s finance critic, said the infant’s death was a tragedy that underscored the need for more ambulances across the province. “As usual with the NDP, they’re talking about the dollar figures as if that’s the fix-it-all without the real tangible effect actually happening,” she said in Victoria after the release of BC’s public accounts. “(People) want to see deliveries. They want to see more ambulances in their communities.” On Monday, Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer had asked for flexibility around which first responders are allowed to transport patients to the hospital. Stamer said his community has a first responder society with a vehicle that could respond when BC Ambulance Service could not, but the society did not have the ability to transport patients to hospital. “That has to change and that has to change today,” he said in an interview. But Drew McMartin, president of Barriere First Responders, a nonprofit that responds to medical emergencies, said he doesn’t see that as a viable solution. “First responders are not the answer to solving the problem of ambulance service,” he said in an interview Tuesday, confirming that his members were called to respond to the eight-month-old in cardiac arrest last week. Troy Clifford, president of BC Ambulance Paramedics, agreed. “The system works very well with first responders and volunteer response teams, but their role is not to treat and transport,” he said. “We need ambulances that are staffed with two paramedics who can treat and transport someone in an emergency,” he said. Clifford said his agency will continue to deal with what he called a “province-wide staffing crisis.” He said staffing problems had left communities like Barriere without adequate ambulance coverage for long periods of time. “It’s not unique to one particular community. It’s across the province,” he said. “The Prime Minister is right that the current government has invested a significant amount of money into the ambulance service, but unfortunately, this really shows how behind and understaffed we were.” Clifford said throughout BC, some agricultural resources were allocated to nearby urban centers, leaving their home communities understaffed. “That has to change,” he said. The biggest problem, Clifford said, is the inability to recruit and retain paramedics, with more than 1,000 vacancies across B.C. “We rely on agencies that are not trained or in the scope to do this (and) that provide less than optimal patient care,” he said.

title: “Bc Premier John Horgan Cites Ambulance Investment As He Deals With Infant Death Kamloops News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-01” author: “Damian Linarez”

BC Premier John Horgan pauses while speaking during a funding announcement for a planned secondary school, in Coquitlam, BC, Tuesday, August 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Premier John Horgan said he was devastated by the recent death of an infant while waiting for an ambulance in Barriere, BC, adding that his government had made a “significant investment” in rural and remote medical transport. “My heart goes out to the family grieving the loss of a child,” she said of the baby who died Thursday in the central B.C. community. He said the province was “aware” of the ambulance shortage and had added ground and air transport options to remote locations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Horgan said the province was working with firefighters and the paramedic association to ensure first responders had adequate training and were able to act quickly in what he called “extremely difficult times.” “We don’t have enough people to provide the services that British Columbians expect, and the only way to do that is to train more,” he said. Existing staff should also be encouraged “to continue working beyond the time they would like”, he said. Peter Milobar, the Kamloops-North Thompson MP who represents Barriere and is the Opposition BC Liberal’s finance critic, said the infant’s death was a tragedy that underscored the need for more ambulances across the province. “As usual with the NDP, they’re talking about the dollar figures as if that’s the fix-it-all without the real tangible effect actually happening,” she said in Victoria after the release of BC’s public accounts. “(People) want to see deliveries. They want to see more ambulances in their communities.” On Monday, Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer had asked for flexibility around which first responders are allowed to transport patients to the hospital. Stamer said his community has a first responder society with a vehicle that could respond when BC Ambulance Service could not, but the society did not have the ability to transport patients to hospital. “That has to change and that has to change today,” he said in an interview. But Drew McMartin, president of Barriere First Responders, a nonprofit that responds to medical emergencies, said he doesn’t see that as a viable solution. “First responders are not the answer to solving the problem of ambulance service,” he said in an interview Tuesday, confirming that his members were called to respond to the eight-month-old in cardiac arrest last week. Troy Clifford, president of BC Ambulance Paramedics, agreed. “The system works very well with first responders and volunteer response teams, but their role is not to treat and transport,” he said. “We need ambulances that are staffed with two paramedics who can treat and transport someone in an emergency,” he said. Clifford said his agency will continue to deal with what he called a “province-wide staffing crisis.” He said staffing problems had left communities like Barriere without adequate ambulance coverage for long periods of time. “It’s not unique to one particular community. It’s across the province,” he said. “The Prime Minister is right that the current government has invested a significant amount of money into the ambulance service, but unfortunately, this really shows how behind and understaffed we were.” Clifford said throughout BC, some agricultural resources were allocated to nearby urban centers, leaving their home communities understaffed. “That has to change,” he said. The biggest problem, Clifford said, is the inability to recruit and retain paramedics, with more than 1,000 vacancies across B.C. “We rely on agencies that are not trained or in the scope to do this (and) that provide less than optimal patient care,” he said.