Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. shifts ambulance staffing for rural communities in bid to boost emergency care

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 09 Nov, 2023 04:05 PM
  • B.C. shifts ambulance staffing for rural communities in bid to boost emergency care

British Columbia is shifting its ambulance paramedics staffing model for 60 rural and remote communities in what Health Minister Adrian Dix says is an "unprecedented" investment in emergency health care.

Dix says three new staffing models for paramedics would increase the number of on-duty ambulance workers during nights and other off-peak times.

The shift will add 261 new full-time paramedic positions and part-time workers whose combined hours will equal 238 full-time workers for three separate models that will give flexibility for ambulance needs in each community. 

Dix says the changes come after consultations with the province's paramedics union, community leaders, First Nations and health-care professionals. 

BC Emergency Health Services chief ambulance officer Leanne Heppell says the flexibility is needed because "one model just doesn't work that well across the province," given the differences in the communities' population, demographics and overall demand.

Dix says B.C. needs more community paramedics and ambulance workers, and he urged those interested in the work to reach out while the province hires staff to fill the demand. 

 

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up 58% in two weeks, as infections, deaths also spike

B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up 58% in two weeks, as infections, deaths also spike
COVID-19 cases are on the rise in British Columbia, with the BC Centre for Disease Control reporting hospitalizations have increased 58 per cent in the past two weeks. The centre says in its latest update that deaths due to COVID-19 are also trending upwards, with 24 fatalities in the last week of September, compared to nine in the second week of August. 

B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up 58% in two weeks, as infections, deaths also spike

Spike in Vancouver's homeless count

Spike in Vancouver's homeless count
The count by the Homelessness Services Association of B-C was done on March 7th and 8th -- and identified just under five thousand people in 11 communities, up from the roughly 36-hundred identified in the March 2020 count.

Spike in Vancouver's homeless count

Surrey business community grapples with police tax

Surrey business community grapples with police tax
Business leaders in Surrey are pleading with the province to provide a clear plan as the city grapples with the next stage of implementing a new police force. The Surrey Board of Trade has sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth saying the city needs a solid policing strategy with adequate wraparound support services and infrastructure as it juggles the costs of the outgoing R-C-M-P and incoming Surrey Police Service.

Surrey business community grapples with police tax

B.C. sets out law to ban use of illegal drugs in many public places

B.C. sets out law to ban use of illegal drugs in many public places
British Columbia is setting out new rules as it attempts to navigate a way to curb the overdose crisis with drug decriminalization. Possession of small amounts of many illicit drugs was decriminalized in B.C. in January after the federal government issued an exemption, but legislation introduced by the province today would make their use illegal in many public spaces. 

B.C. sets out law to ban use of illegal drugs in many public places

'Extremely fluid': Liberals and NDP haven't yet agreed on promised pharmacare bill

'Extremely fluid': Liberals and NDP haven't yet agreed on promised pharmacare bill
The federal New Democrats have rejected the first draft of the Liberals' pharmacare legislation, in what the health minister describes as "extremely fluid" negotiations over the highly anticipated bill. The Liberals promised to table pharmacare legislation this fall as part of the supply-and-confidence deal the government struck with the NDP.

'Extremely fluid': Liberals and NDP haven't yet agreed on promised pharmacare bill

Victoria police looking for suspects in possible arson

Victoria police looking for suspects in possible arson
Police in Victoria say they're looking for two women who may have seen the suspect or suspects in a possible arson over the weekend. They say officers responded Saturday evening to reports of two fires inside a retail store, where staff used fire extinguishers to douse the initial flames.

Victoria police looking for suspects in possible arson