Gabriola Island firefighters say lack of paramedics puts community at risk

B.C. Ambulance paramedic Jeff Booton cleans his ambulance at station 233 in Lions Bay, B.C. Wednesday, April 22, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Firefighters on one of British Columbia's southern Gulf Islands are raising the alarm about a shortage of paramedics in the community.

The problem recently surfaced this past weekend when volunteer firefighters were called upon twice to drive ambulances due to a lack of dedicated medics on duty.

In one instance, a firefighter arrived on scene to a lone paramedic who was treating a patient in critical condition who needed to be driven to an air ambulance, according to Gabriola Island fire Chief Will Sprogis.

Transporting a patient requires two medics in an ambulance; one to monitor the patient in the back and one to drive.

"It meant our member had to drive the ambulance while we were in the midst of extreme fire hazard," Sprogis told Victoria radio station CFAX 1070 on Wednesday.

BC Emergency Health Services says Gabriola firefighters have been called upon to drive their ambulances 17 times this year.

The Gabriola fire chief says 10 firefighters on the island are licensed to drive the ambulances. 

"We don't want to burn out our volunteers," Sprogis told CTV News. "Our volunteers should be kept for their primary task of firefighting and back up for providing medical support."

The paramedic service said in a statement that it is making changes to its staffing model across the province, including on Gabriola Island.

"We are working to address a historical reliance on on-call staffing by introducing hundreds of full time and part time permanent positions, including four new, permanent paramedic positions on Gabriola Island, bringing the total permanent positions at the Gabriola station to six," BCEHS spokesperson Lesley Pritchard said in a statement Wednesday.

Emergency health services added a second ambulance to Gabriola Island in November 2021.

The fire chief says he fears lives could be lost if the paramedic staffing system isn't changed soon.

"We feel like we're in the position now that we're going to be on a fire and we're not going to make it there to drive the ambulance one time and a patient is going to pass away," Sprogis said.