Petition calls for change at BC Emergency Health Services in wake of deadly heatwave
Posted July 6, 2021 8:23 am.
Last Updated July 6, 2021 8:24 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Thousands of people have signed an online petition demanding a change at the top of the BC Emergency Health Services.
An ambulance paramedic started the “Fire BCEHS COO Darlene MacKinnonon” petition on Change.org calling for accountability in the wake of B.C.’s deadly heat wave.
The BC Coroners Service said over a seven-day period from Friday, June 25 through Thursday, July 1, 719 deaths were reported. It is believed the extreme weather was a significant contributing factor to the threefold increase in deaths. Many of those who died were seniors.
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The petition claims the heat was widely predicted, but suggests management did little if anything to prepare for it.
Ambulance wait times are now a major issue in Metro Vancouver. Emergency Health Services does confirm it has been dealing with high call volumes of late. This has all been made worse by COVID-19, the opioid crisis, and general stress on the system.
The union representing Vancouver’s Fire Department, IAFF Local #18, took to Twitter Monday to join the calls for change saying that “BC EHS must be held accountable for the unnecessary deaths and we demand they improve supports for Ambulance Paramedics of BC.”
An ambulance dispatcher on the Lower Mainland spoke with NEWS 1130 under conditions of anonymity last week. He said once the temperature started to rise, call volumes skyrocketed.
“We had, over a 24-hour period or 36-hour period, well over 3,600 calls, when we would normally answer maybe 1,200 to 1,400 on a busy night,” he claimed.
He says despite ample warning of oncoming record temperatures, he didn’t see any additional ambulances on the road.
A B.C. paramedic echoed those statements. He told NEWS 1130 that some emergency calls were on hold for hours.
With files from Monika Gul
