The hospital’s emergency department was closed over the weekend due to staff shortages and the community ambulance was already out on another call when the woman had the medical emergency. “I think, unfortunately, given the closings that we’re seeing in our small rural emergency departments, that will unfortunately happen again because the very nature of small rural hospitals or emergency departments is that the next closest hospital is some distance away. Ashcroft Mayor Barbara Roden told Global News. BC Emergency Health Services, which operates BC Ambulance Service, confirmed that paramedics were called to the 700 block of Elm Street at 11:23 Sunday morning. The ambulance crew was not able to reach the scene until 11:50 am Story continues below ad 5:09 Impact of Internal Health ER Closures Impact of Internal Health ER Closures While emergency dispatchers had called for firefighter response to fill that gap, Roden said it’s not a service the local volunteer fire department is equipped to do. The fire chief himself, however, had some medical training and attended CPR as a private, he said. Trending Stories
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If the Aschroft ER had been open, he said, someone could have taken the women there in about a 30-second drive. With closure, the next closest hospital is the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, about a 50-minute drive away.
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About a half-dozen rural and small community hospitals in B.C., many of them in the Internal Health region, saw emergency rooms diverted over the weekend amid a worsening staffing crisis. Story continues below ad At a news conference in Kamloops on Monday, Health Minister Adrian Dix acknowledged staffing shortages were a problem, which he attributed in large part to workers calling in sick, but said the province was largely focused on hiring. He added that the province is looking at ways to speed up emergency room certification for nurses. Global News has requested comment from Interior Health. 2:12 Steady increase in sick days among BC health care workers Steady increase in sick days among BC health care workers – June 30, 2022 Rodin has met with Internal Health as well as BC Emergency Health Services, the latter of which said it is looking into the incident. “BC Emergency Health Services has acknowledged that they are taking action, they told us here in Ashcroft that a different health care model is on the way, they told us in September — and, you know, one thing that better communication would help with,” he said. “I think Interior Health is tired of hearing me beat the drum on this, but people in the community — and to say they’re scared is not an exaggeration to the effect — people are very concerned about what’s happening in health care in their communities. They want to know – they need to know – that it’s available for them when they need it.” Story continues below ad BC EHS acknowledged it faces staffing challenges, but said it has added more than 500 new full- and part-time paramedic positions in rural communities.- — with files from CFJC © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
