‘We need more boots on the ground’: Paramedic shortage impacting B.C. community

The union representing paramedics says ambulances were sitting empty due staff shortages following an overtime ban.

A Vancouver Island mayor says firefighters in heir community are being dispatched to medical calls as the ambulance service grapples with staffing issues.

On Friday, the union representing paramedics issued a “public safety alert,” warning ambulances would be sitting empty due to critical staffing shortages.

Maja Tait, the mayor of Sooke, told CTV News that her community is seeing the impact of these shortages first-hand.

“Depending on congestion on the highway, road conditions. Sometimes our fire crew are responding to medical calls and there’s a fire as well,” said Tait on the challenges of navigating calls.

“We’re a growing community. So as we grow, the calls for service grow, which means we need more boots on the ground.”

A spokesperson for British Columbia Emergency Health Services told CTV News, in an email, that it is a provincial service with no municipal boundaries. When its ambulances are out of service, it can dispatch ambulances from surrounding areas.

The statement continued to say that BCEHS monitors staffing levels across the province, and takes action to fill shifts as quickly as possible when they are vacant.

The union explained on Monday that this kind of resource-shifting should only be used under specific circumstances.

“We’re not against that. The issue is it’s a classic robbing Peter to pay Paul kind of situation,” said Ian Tait, the spokesperson for the union.

“That’s meant to be in times of significant emergency.”

He went on to say that each community should have its own resources that can withstand service requests.

Over the last several weeks, the union has placed blame for the shortages on an overtime ban implemented by BCEHS and the Provincial Health Services Authority, which they believe is an attempt to tackle a “significant budget deficit.”

Several sources told CTV News that BCEHS is dealing with a budget shortfall of approximately $200 million.

On Monday, B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said there is not an overtime ban and that the service’s deficit has been overstated.

“There is a shortfall right now that’s been identified of about $35 million, but we expect that to be accommodated by the fiscal year-end,” said Osborne.

“Reports of a shortfall that is bigger than that just aren’t accurate.”