Paramedics seek support
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As a paramedic, I appreciate Karen Wheeler's support for better wages for Vernon's paramedics. However, it should be noted that the ambulance service is provincially run, not municipally run.
That being said, I have formally requested city council's support for paramedics during the strike, and asked for them to send a letter to the Ministry Of Health declaring such support and requesting a better service in Vernon.
This was done via e-mail to the addresses listed in the Vernon website. Unfortunately, aside from a single council member who sought to learn more about our issues, city council never responded to me, despite me contacting each council member individually.
Why do I think Vernon city council should become more active in supporting the paramedics who are trying to improve the service? Because the service is not meeting Vernon's needs.
In 1996, the call volume for the Vernon station was 3,938. In 2006, it was 7,144. That is an increase of 81 per cent. And it's only been going up since. How many ambulances were added to meet this significantly increased demand? None. Vernon has a growing population, and an aging population, yet you have the same ambulance coverage as you did in the 1990s. Instead of addressing Vernon's needs, the service relies on pulling in ambulances from Lumby, Armstrong, Enderby, and Winfield to alleviate any busy periods where no Vernon ambulances are available. Of course, this means those communities now lose their needed ambulance coverage, not to mention the fact the waiting time for an ambulance here is significantly increased. It's playing with fire to use such a system on a daily basis, but that is how the service has been run. These issues have been ignored by our government, and they justify their ignorance by saying all we want is more money. I urge Vernon residents to go to MLA Eric Foster and demand a fair resolution to the strike, and demand a better service that Vernon so desperately needs. I also hope Vernon council will reconsider my concerns, and choose to support our cause as we strive to fix the service for their constituents.
Jason Angulo
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