Barriere is still dealing with ambulance delays, despite recently gaining 24-hour coverage in the community (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

PARAMEDIC SHORTAGES

Barriere feeling paramedic shortage, despite new 24-hour ambulance service

Jun 22, 2022 | 2:27 PM

KAMLOOPS — Like many communities in B.C., Barriere is feeling the effects of the paramedic shortage.

They have one full-time ambulance with eight full-time paramedics providing 24-hour coverage, but they have to serve other communities as well.

“We had a situation three weeks ago where unfortunately there was only one ambulance stationed in Barriere and it was basically stolen and sent to 100 Mile and we had no ambulance service on a Friday night from Heffley Creek to Blue River.”

The President of the Ambulance Paramedics of BC understands the frustrations but says there are shortages across the province. Troy Clifford notes Barriere has the one full-time ambulance, but also has community paramedics on hand to help.

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He says the province stepped up with funding after last year’s heat dome, adding full-time ambulance to many B.C. communities, including Barriere and Clearwater.

“Recently, the government announced a signifcant improvement to the Barriere staffing by putting a full-time, 24-hour ambulance, which we’d never heard of in that area,” said Clifford. “That’s intended to help with demands in the growing area of Barriere, and also the challenges of the rural and remote community that Barriere is.”

Clifford says having community paramedics, which provide primary care services in non-emergency situations, takes pressure off the system.

He notes what has made the paramedic situation more challenging in Barriere is a reduction in hours at the health centre. Residents are now leaning more on ambulance for care, and at times it means paramedic resources are needing to go to Kamloops.

In addition, when staff shortages affect Kamloops, paramedics from communities like Barriere are sometimes pulled.

“If they’re the closest ambulance to a call, then they’ll go to those acute calls, those highest acuity calls. That’s the beauty of our system. Unfortunately, when you’re seeing staffing resources, you’re relying on those needs more than you should, then you’re depleting your resources in communities like Barriere because they’re being drawn into,” said Clifford. then that puts a pressure on the system and there’s no coverage in the community, which I think people accept if you have a weird spike where you have a number of calls.”

Stamer is pushing for alternative modes of transporting patients, like in a fire truck, but Clifford says patients can only be transported in an ambulance.

Stamer is just frustrated that resources in Barriere are being used elsewhere at times. There are two full-time ambulances between Barriere and Clearwater that cover more than 200 kilometres from Heffley Creek to Blue River.

“We want to be able to share throughout the [North Thompson] valley, but unfortunately because of the shortages and backlog at Royal Inland sometimes at the emergency room, we’ve had patients in that parking lot three, four, five hours because they haven’t been admitted to the hospital,” said Stamer. “We brought that up at the TNRD level and they kind of poo-pooed it a little bit and said ‘we’re working on it, we’re working on it.'”

At the end of the day, Stamer wants better ambulance service in Barriere. The Ambulance Paramedics of BC says the service levels there are actually good for a rural community.