Ambulance Service Calls for B.C. Supreme Court Decision on Essential Service Order

By 250 News

The BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) has asked the Labour Relations Board (LRB) to file the Essential Services Order with the Supreme Court of BC to help ensure that the public continues to receive ambulance service.
BCAS is currently experiencing significant challenges staffing ambulances in the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland due to escalating and illegal job action by striking paramedics, members of CUPE Local 873.

According to  BCAS the  type of staffing shortages being experienced are a breach of the Essential Services Order, which places a responsibility on the employer, the union, and individual employees to maintain ambulance
service levels and make themselves available for work as per their historical pattern of availability. The current significant shortage is due to staff not submitting availability for shifts, short notice book offs, calling in sick, and not answering calls for mandatory recall provisions.


A hearing involving BCAS and CUPE Local 873 is scheduled today at the LRB to review compliance with the Essential Services Order and to try and address the challenges being experienced in maintaining critical ambulance
services.

In the meantime, to ensure that seriously ill and injured patients continue to get as fast a response as possible, BCAS is urging people whose call is not an emergency to consider other health-care options rather than dialing 9-1-1 for an ambulance. These options include:

* Phoning HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 to speak with a nurse;
* Attending a local walk-in medical clinic;
* Visiting your family physician;
* Making your own way to your local emergency department - arriving in an ambulance does not mean you will be seen any faster.

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