Dawson City, Yukon, starts year off with full ambulance coverage

For the past two months, Dawson City, Yukon, has had 100 per cent ambulance coverage, according to Yukon Emergency Medical Services (YEMS).

That represents a marked change from just months earlier when people in the community were complaining about substantial gaps in ambulance service, and local firefighters said they were sometimes being called to fill those gaps. 

Acting YEMS chief Ryan Soucy said both December and January had full coverage, meaning there was always a fully-crewed ambulance available. There must be two responders on duty to operate the ambulance. 

"We had four new community responders come and be part of the team in Dawson through November to December," Soucy said. 

"We floated our [primary care paramedic] that's hired to float through the different communities, including Watson [Lake] and Dawson and all of the other communities in the Yukon... We sent them up to provide some coverage support. And then just the overall regular volunteers signing up for more shifts."

Soucy believes media coverage, as well as the government's recruitment ads in local newspapers, helped encourage people to volunteer. 

"I think the community came together to say, 'hey, we want to help out the community,'" Soucy said.

Soucy couldn't say whether there will also be full coverage in Dawson through February, but he said looking at the roster of volunteers, it's expected to be "stable." 

Mike Ellis is a member of the Dawson City Ambulance Association (DCAA). He formed the group to provide a secondary ambulance service for times when Yukon EMS was unavailable, and he's been a vocal advocate for consistent services in town.

Ellis calls the improved coverage in recent months "excellent." 

"If we've been able to be a part of raising the profile of this concern the community has ... and it's resulted in an increase in coverage, than that's as good if not better than us having to step in and directly offer the service," he said.

Ellis said the DCAA is still ready to deploy its own ambulance and services, whenever it's needed to ensure full coverage is maintained.

Ellis also want YEMS to be transparent with the public about what full coverage actually means.

Recently, the DCAA prepared a report which cited apparent discrepancies in how the YEMS reported ambulance coverage in Dawson in 2022 and 2023.