Review underway after death in B.C. town without ambulance or emergency department: mayor
CTV
A senior in B.C.’s Interior died after going into cardiac arrest while the only ambulance was dispatched to another town and the hospital’s emergency department was closed.
A senior in B.C.’s Interior has died after going into cardiac arrest while the only ambulance was dispatched to another town and the hospital’s emergency department was closed, prompting a review of emergency service in the community.
The mayor of Ashcroft, B.C., told CTV News she had a long conversation with BC Emergency Health Services officials who were in town on an unrelated matter, but met with her about the Sunday death.
“There is going to be a full review of what happened on Sunday to see where all the different ambulances were in play in the region, what happened, to see if there's anything that can be learned from it,” said Barbara Roden.
“I suspect that there is nothing that anyone would like better than to be able to guarantee this will not happen again, and that's a guarantee that absolutely no one can give.”
Roden said the woman lived in an assisted living facility next to the Ashcroft hospital, but with the emergency department closed, the closest hospital was an hour away in Kamloops. As a result, the ambulance arrived too late, despite the best efforts of firefighters.
“My fear is this perfect storm of events could happen again either here in Ashcroft or in another small community where health care is pretty precarious sometimes,” she said.
While the issues driving nurses away from health care are international, and B.C.’s unique pressures and issues recruiting and keeping paramedics are complex, another Interior mayor says the way health officials and government can address them are universal.
