Golden Star
Strike to affect BC Paramedics, especially in rural areas
Published: June 02, 2009 10:00 PM
Rural communities that rely on the services provided by paramedics could be deeply affected by the outcome of the current strike and forthcoming negotiations between the paramedics’ union and the provincial government.
Paramedics in places like Golden deal with very challenging circumstances and are often called upon to respond to accidents that occur far from emergency facilities.
Columbia River – Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald said that the contract negotiations currently underway between the provincial government and the paramedics’ union will surely affect rural communities and the fact that this dispute has led to strike action shows a lack of leadership on the part of the B.C. Liberal government.
“The last paramedics’ contract made significant changes to pay structures and educational opportunities which made the job of a rural paramedic much less appealing. In order to make a living, many rural paramedics are choosing to move to larger centres, leaving rural communities scrambling to fill the ranks,” he said.
Macdonald went on to explain that the B.C. Liberal government really needs to try harder to understand the challenges of rural communities and the special circumstances they face with recruiting new paramedics to the areas.
Paramedics are paid $10 per hour to be on call at the ambulance station. In rural areas where call volume can be low, paramedics can not afford to work for such low pay. The requirement for paramedics to pay for their own training to do a job that pays so little is resulting in some paramedics working with a lower level of training.
“In rural communities, we rely heavily on our paramedics. Rural paramedics are often called to respond to accidents that occur far from emergency facilities putting a heavy burden on the ambulance service. But instead of ensuring that rural paramedics are supported in being highly trained, this government has forced paramedics to accept contract provisions that lessen standards and lowers quality of service. The government has a responsibility to get ambulance service right. We should not be relying on the paramedics’ union to fight for minimum standards; those standards should be set by government,” said Macdonald.
He went on to explain that he believes there must be improvements to the B.C. Ambulance structure that fully realizes the challenges of providing service in rural areas.
“A pay structure must be in place that makes the job of a rural paramedic attractive. A system must be developed that supports rural paramedics in taking higher levels of training,” said Macdonald, adding, “Forcing paramedics into a strike position over these issues is grotesquely unfair to all involved. The government has the responsibility to put an ambulance system in place that guarantees that appropriately trained and experienced paramedics arrive at the scene to care for our sick and our injured. Anything less is simply unacceptable.”