New funding will hopefully ease load of overworked emergency crews

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As people continue to die from opioid overdoses in our province, Vancouver’s fire captain is hoping new funding for a medic unit will help ease the load on his overworked teams.

The $1.9 million will go towards staffing a three-person medic unit at the hall on Main and Powell Streets, which has seen the most dramatic increase in calls, particularly for overdoses.

Captain Jonathan Gormick says the unit was started when the number of calls began going up, but the cash for it was coming out of the department’s budget.

Now the money will come from the 0.5 per cent hike in property tax dedicated to the opioid crisis.

“Instead of two apparatus — the existing medic two and engine two — taking all the calls, like 1,500 a month, there’s a new an extra piece apparatus that can take approximately 30 per cent of that call volume,” says Gormick.

“Funding it and paying for the overtime and staffing was coming out of our budget.  So now that we have the allocation from council, from the contingency fund, the money to staff it and provide the actual apparatus will come from that.”

He adds this unit is only part of the solution, and investment in other initiatives needs to continue.

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