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BC Emergency Health Services Station 153 (Gabriola).
Sounder News
Of the three emergency services on Gabriola, only BC Ambulance saw an increase in call volume in 2024. Gabriola RCMP and Gabriola Fire both saw slight drops in requests for service from the public.
There were 1008 files for Gabriola RCMP in 2024, down from the 1136 files seen for RCMP in 2023, according to Cpl. Eric O’Brien, detachment commander.
He said, “I would contribute that in large part to the excellent proactive work the members do here.
“Some of our Strategic Priorities for Gabriola RCMP include preventing and reducing Drug, Alcohol, Property and Violent crimes through proactive crime reduction.
“Another is Enhanced Road Safety so enforcing and educating drivers on provincial/criminal code and traffic safety act.”
Paramedics with BC Emergency Health Services (BC EHS) responded to a total of 822 events on Gabriola Island in 2024, up from 778 in 2023.
Top categories for types of calls for Gabriola in 2024 were as follows:
• Falls: 161
• Sick person: 109
• Chest pain: 95
• Breathing problems: 62
• Unconscious/ fainting: 49
2024 was a transition year for the Gabriola station, as BC EHS moved from the ‘Scheduled On-Call’ shift pattern to an ‘Alpha’ pattern for one of the ambulances. The second Gabriola ambulance remains a ‘kilo’ pattern, paramedics are paged to the station if the Kilo ambulance is required. The station also has a full-time Community Paramedic.
Media staff with BC EHS explained there was an introduction of improved staffing models in 60 rural and remote stations across BC in April 2024, and this has enhanced responsiveness for 911 events and patient transfers, and added hundreds of full-time positions that allow more paramedics to build sustainable careers in communities that need them.
“We’re pleased that this transition has helped us create more stable staffing and offer more reliable out-of-hospital care throughout BC.
“As a result of this transition, Gabriola Island now has an “Alpha unit” ambulance that is staffed 24/7 by paramedics working at the ambulance station.”
From the introduction of Alpha in April 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024, the Alpha unit on Gabriola Island responded to 535 patient events. In 2024, the Kilo Unit on Gabriola Island was involved in 151 responses. Before being phased out on April 1, 2024, the units with Scheduled On-Call staffing (Oscar and Yankee units) responded to a combined 159 events. These response numbers include both emergency events and patient transfers.
In terms of inter-agency calls, BC EHS staff added that the provincial agency, “greatly values the partnership of the Gabriola Island Fire Department in responding to emergencies.”
They explained the first responder program is voluntary – each partner agency determines which types of medical emergencies they are able to respond to and when.
According to BC EHS, fire departments in BC are automatically notified of all medical calls which meet the criteria each department has agreed to – and then the department determines whether or not they will respond to the emergency.
In 2024, the Gabriola Island Fire Department was notified of 319 events by BC EHS dispatch.
According to BC EHS staff, this is the number of incidents where the Fire Department was notified by BC EHS, not necessarily the number they attended.
Fire Chief Will Sprogis said the GVFD had responded to 298 medical calls in 2024.
Overall, the Department had 537 calls in 2024, compared to 562 in 2023.
The GVFD calls were broken down as follows:
• Burn complaints: 75
• Hydro fires: 14
• Chimney fires: 2
• Vehicle fires: 2
• Hazmat incidents: 1
• Wildland fires: 3
• Structure fires: 1
• Miscellaneous fires: 19
• Alarms activated: 24
• Public assists: 62
• Gas spills: 2
• Downed power lines: 16
• Motor vehicle incidents: 13
• Rescues: 2
• Medical calls: 298
• Lift assists: 2
Sprogis said, “with a wetter spring and summer, our call volume was slightly down, which is beneficial for the island.
“I believe our fire prevention efforts are helping to reduce both structure fires and wildland fires.”
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