As of Sunday, August 1st, there will be a 75% cutback in the number of paramedics available to the Cortes Island Ambulance Service.
In fact, there won’t be any paramedics available on August 1st, or for 24 of the 62 shifts that month.
What a 75% cutback would look like:
According to one of the island’s paramedics, who asked to remain anonymous because of the consequences of speaking out:
“My understanding of the options that remain for sick/injured people when there are not paramedics on call include:
- –sending a crew over from Quadra during ferry-running times
- -sending a crew from Campbell River by coast guard and having patients meet them at the Manson’s dock if possible.
- -sending paramedics by helicopter, who can then access and make use of the ambulance on Cortes (but will have a hard time finding their way)
- -the supervisor for Cortes will call off-duty paramedics at home, hoping someone might be available and willing to become an on-duty paramedic. Some paramedics have said they would be willing to do this, sometimes.
“These solutions come with challenges, increased wait times, and they make use of resources that are already probably operating at capacity… The Quadra Island crew is often busy looking after Quadra island residents.”
Prior to this
Cortes Currents confirmed most of the details stated above with two other paramedics, who also wish to remain anonymous.
The new pay scale is for the hours paramedics are not dealing with emergencies and has been coming for some time.
Last year, the news website Castanet quoted segments of a BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) memo identifying “92 rural and remote stations that have lower call volumes” as candidates for the SOC ($2 an hour standby pay) staffing model.
In a letter to Adrian Dix, the Minister of Health, dated May 10, 2021, Mayor Julie Colborne of Zeballos wrote, “I understand that BC Ambulance has changed to a new model of service within the organization from a call-out with 4 hour pay (also called a KILO guarantee) model of service to Scheduled on Call (SOC) program. This new model would see one regular part time paid position and the rest of the paramedics on call being given pager pay (at $2/hr).”
She pointed out that for Zaballos, this “catastrophic collapse of a service” would mean “zero coverage on weekends” and there might be a full crew (of two paramedics) on “as few as four ambulance working days” a month.
At the SRD Board meeting of May 26:
- Colborne said that Zeballos’ “nearest hospital and our next nearest ambulance station is an hour and a half away.” She mentions “extensive conversations” with communities that are even further, as well as with North Island MLA Michele Babchuk.
- Cortes Island Regional Director Noba Anderson said “I’ve been hearing this is coming for quite awhile from the paramedics … If they are only receiving $2 an hour, they are not going to keep up with their training and they are not going to keep up with the ambulance service. So, as far as I can tell, this is actually a massive reduction in service.”
- “We’re going to have half of our shifts not covered. This is going to be a huge problem for Sayward … ” said Mayor Mark Baker, of Sayward.
- “We have the same issues here. We are on the verge of losing service and personally I have never understood how somebody could be paid $2 an hour, which is far below minimum wage. It is going to affect all the small communities,” said Mayor Martin Davis of Tahsis.
The SRD Board resolved, “THAT the Chair request a meeting with Michele Babchuk, MLA and the Ministry of Health including representatives from the affected rural communities of the SRD to discuss the matter of small community paramedic initiatives.”
MLA Babchuk has not responded to Cortes Current’s requests for an interview.
‘Enhanced emergency services’
This is the dark side of BCEHS’ new enhanced emergency services, which will create more than 170 regular positions across the province – while slashing service levels in more remote communities like Cortes Island, Zeballos, Tahsis and Sayward.
For the past four years, paramedics have been guaranteed at least four hours pay for each of their 12 hour shifts.
This has been abolished. Now paramedics are back to $2 an hour standby pay unless they are called out.
Unfortunately, $2 an hour is not a living wage.
“All the paramedics I have spoken to feel very abused and neglected and rejected by their employer. Many have quit. Others are hanging in there, hoping for change but only doing the minimum that they are committed to. All have found other employment and are engaged in doing what they need to do to look after their needs,” said the anonymous paramedic.
“Those hanging in there have had their trust in the system shattered. It is uncertain whether that trust can ever be rebuilt. That is perhaps the greatest tragedy – good people, giving up while an institution undermines its foundation – the workers – and sacrifices patient care to save some dollars. … All this after one of the toughest years for paramedics around the world and a global awakening to the value of essential workers, perhaps especially in health care.”
What can Cortes residents do?
“Reach out to your local decision-makers,” said the paramedic.
Links of Interest:
- (Cortes Currents) SRD against new ambulance service initiative for rural areas
- (Cortes Currents) Enhanced Emergency Services? Or catastrophic collapse of a service?
- (SRD) Scheduled On-Call (SOC) – Vancouver Island / Gulf Islands Prototype
Top photo credit: After the 75% cutback: will there have be a paramedic on duty when the next child needs help? Photo by Mark Yuen via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)
This article was originally published on July 26, with additional material added on July 31, 2021.
Sign-up for Cortes Currents email-out:
To receive an emailed catalogue of articles on Cortes Currents, send a (blank) email to subscribe to your desired frequency:
- Daily, (articles posted during the last 24 hours) – cortescurrents-daily+subscribe@cortes.groups.io
- Weekly Digest cortescurrents – cortescurrents-weekly+subscribe@cortes.groups.io
This article seems to imply the ambulance will not roll at all when no paramedics are available. Is this actually true? Are there no Emergency Medical Assistant: First Responder (EMA-FR) or Emergency Medical Responders (EMR) available to roll the ambulance at times when there is not a full complement of paramedic-level staff available? This is confusing to me. Can someone please confirm.
At $2/hour, you’re asking people to basically be volunteers, after years of specialized training to get where they are. Good luck finding good samaritans to fill those positions. The whole point of the 4 hour minimum was to ensure workers would stick around for emergencies.
This will be a death sentence for some and I hope it results in court cases and lawsuits against the province.
Saving money instead of lives!
How can you expect people to go through training and upgrades for $2 an hour. This is wrong!
as i read it your right there will be no ambulance and the service will either have to come from Quadra or Campbell River
Today at Hague Lake we saw a boy slip and fall head down, bouncing, from the high rocks on the little island. One of his friends paddled like crazy for the beach, calling “9-1-1” while the others got a paddle board under him, towed him to the beach, and gently carried him up to the road, where the ambulance met them and put him in a full body brace.
This is the busiest weekend of the year; I’ve never seen the lake so full. I am thankful it’s still July, not August, or that poor kid might not have got an ambulance at all.
It’s no good writing “No jumping” in huge horrible letters on the rocks; kids (off all ages) will be kids and jump anyway. Cortes needs its ambulance service.