Letter dated January 20, 2022 from Assistant Deputy Min. K. Anderson, Ministry of Health, Re: BC Ambulance Response Times

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Date: January 20, 2022

Elena Bolster Deputy Corporate Officer Town of View Royal 45 View Royal Avenue Victoria BC V9B 1A6

Dear Elena Bolster:

The Honourable Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, has asked me to respond to your letter of November 17, 2021, regarding BC Ambulance response times. I apologize for the delayed response.

In recent months, BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) has seen an increase in overall call volumes, due in part to COVID-19, overdose related calls, and extreme weather events.

The Province and BCEHS have taken action to strengthen BC’s ambulance service and improve service and response times for people. This includes funding for new full-time paramedics and dispatchers, 22 new ambulances, and more 24/7 ambulance stations in rural communities. In addition, the BCEHS board has been reconstituted to focus solely on ambulance services and the Province has appointed new leadership, including a new board, a new board chair, and a new chief ambulance officer.

Within the Greater Victoria Area, BCEHS has 160 full time paramedics and 110 casual paramedics. In early 2021, a total of 147 permanent paramedic positions were created across the province as part of the transition away from on-call and temporary ambulance paramedic positions. Of these positions, 65 full time equivalent paramedic positions were added on Vancouver Island, six of which were added in Victoria.

Victoria paramedics respond to calls throughout the Greater Victoria area as required. To ensure there is appropriate paramedic coverage, BCEHS, as a regular practice, constantly monitors staffing levels in all areas of the province. In addition, BCEHS is a provincial service, meaning that paramedics and ambulances can travel across municipal boundaries to attend high acuity calls when and where they are most urgently needed.

To further support better patient care, on December 3, 2021, the Province announced the expansion of the care and treatment paramedics and first responders can provide in emergency situations. As these changes are implemented, paramedics and first responders will increasingly be able to better help patients on scene. As this work moves forward, the Province will work closely with training institutions, BCEHS, Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers of BC (CUPE 873), first responder agencies and the Fire Chiefs Association of BC to ensure the consistent and appropriate oversight, continuing competency, licenser, and standardized training of paramedics and first responders.

We appreciate the incredible work paramedics and dispatch staff are doing during this challenging time, and recognize they are making every effort to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively.

Thank you again for writing. Please be assured, we take the concerns of people who access health services in BC very seriously and are committed to improving BC’s emergency health services.

Sincerely,

Kristy Anderson A/Assistant Deputy Minister Hospital and Provincial Health Services Division