qathet Regional District’s (qRD) board will be campaigning for reimbursement for medical services provided by local government fire and rescue services.
At the July 26 regional board meeting, directors reviewed correspondence from City of Prince George, which is sending a resolution to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) for reimbursement for medical services.
Electoral Area C director and board chair Clay Brander said the correspondence falls in line with qRD’s concerns that have been heard from staff, so he thought it was good to show support for the resolution.
City of Powell River director George Doubt said he agreed with the recommendation. He said particularly with volunteer fire departments, more of them are choosing not to provide first responder services.
“One of the reasons is the cost of doing it and the demand it places on limited resources,” said Doubt. “If there is reimbursement for the cost for the volunteer fire services to respond to those things, it’s likely that the coverage will be better.”
Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox said he has had experience as an ambulance paramedic and as a volunteer firefighter.
“These are crucial people in our communities and we can do everything we can to advocate for their funding,” said Lennox. “BC Ambulance Service is underfunded and the simple fact of the matter is, with even doubling or tripling the funding, our rural areas that a lot of us represent will still need first responders to be there first, to provide primary care, so that when the paramedics get there, they can quickly take people to the hospital. I’m totally in support of this.”
Manager of emergency services Ryan Thoms said comments from the directors were consistent.
“This regional district has been vocal over the years regarding this concern and we haven’t seen it resolved,” said Thoms. “We need some kind of funding model that recognizes all the costs. There are operational costs and capital costs. It’s a great step forward to get it on to the convention floor.”
The board voted to send correspondence to the UBCM executive expressing support from qRD for inclusion of the Prince George resolution for this year’s UBCM convention.
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