The final day of a four-day orientation for new BCAS recruits included driving a ‘track’ at CN Centre yesterday

Prince George, BC – The ranks of the BC Ambulance Service have been bolstered in Northern BC with 16 new paramedics completing a four-day ‘new hire’ orientation in Prince George over the weekend.

The BC Ambulance Service came under fire this past June when an elderly woman in Hudson’s Hope suffered a heart attack and died, while the community’s only ambulance had been transferred to Tumbler Ridge during the time. 

BCAS Education Officer, Julia Strain, says the new employees will be returning to stations in Terrace, Fort St. John, 100 Mile House, and ‘all points in-between’.  "We are so short of staff throughout the province," says Strain, "It’s not only in the rural areas – it’s throughout the province – so have 16 people new to the area is fabulous."

She says they try to hold four or five orientations per year for the region, with between 12 and 16 new recruits each time.  The four-day sessions include occupational health and safety, infection control, lifting and transferring, cardiac arrest management, respect in the workplace, and two days are focused on driving. 

"They spend a whole day on the track: doing a slalom, doing decision-making at various speeds, and then they practise backing up at various speeds because many of these people are very, very new.  They’ve never worked in any of the stations." (click on photo at right for video clip)

With winter fast-approaching, Strain says particular emphasis is placed on safety, "We talk a lot about winter safety and that lights and sirens don’t mean go fast, lights and sirens mean they’re asking permission of the public to clear the roadway for them because they’re on an emergency call.  So Code Three is not about speed, it’s about safety."

As the recruits head to their new stations, Strain, herself, is about to take up a new BCAS position in Smithers where she resides.  For the past three years, she has been commuting weekly to Prince George.  A new Education Officer arrives from Vanderhoof in the beginning of November.