Firefighters in Richmond responded to 522 medical calls and 98 car crashes in July alone.
And it’s not just in Richmond where firefighters are first at the scene to medical and MVA calls, frustrating many municipalities who say this is downloading of provincial responsibility.
The number of medical calls firefighters respond to is an “on-going issue,” said Richmond Mayor Malcom Brodie.
Ths issue has prompted the city of Mission to put forward a resolution at the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention asking the province to fund medic trucks for firefighters.
“It’s the kind of thing that’s been debated and suggested many times previously,” Brodie said the ask for more provincial support for firefighters, adding the province is “able to cut back on the ambulance force because they have first responders (in the form of) firefighters.”
If firefighters were to stop going to medical calls, the province would be forced to add more ambulances, Brodie said, but he said this would be “hard to justify.”
“When you’ve got your community in need and the province isn’t providing the necessary level of support, how can we just let people suffer?” Brodie said.
“You can’t stand back and let your community be negatively affected,” he added.
Brodie has heard frustration from Richmond Fire-Rescue, city staff and elected officials on this issue.
In Richmond, there are seven fire halls with about 200 firefighters, whereas, there are only two ambulance stations in the city – one at Williams and No. 1 roads, and the other on Cambie Road near No. 4 Road.
Of Richmond’s $563 million budget, about 15 per cent goes toward the fire department.
Compared to the 522 medical calls Richmond firefighters responded to in July, they responded to 87 fires – of which 68 were outdoors. On top of that, they also responded to 98 motor vehicle accidents.
The medical calls included 66 falls, 67 people who were unconscious or had fainted, 38 strokes and 11 psychiatric incidents.
The number of medical calls in May and June were comparable, with 541 and 566 calls respectively.
The UBCM resolution from Mission will be dealt with at convention during the week of Sept. 18.
The rationale for the resolution is that the province isn’t putting enough money into BC Ambulance Service as municipalities grow and inflation rises.
Municipal firefighters are “often the first responders to calls for medical service causing elevated wear and tear on fire apparatus and are unable to leave the scene until an ambulance arrives thus putting the community fire protection services at risk,” the resolution reads.
Hence, the resolution asks the province to provide capital and operating funding for “medic trucks” so cities can maintain fire protection and so that “the cost of providing purely medical services, a provincial responsibility, are not unfairly burdening municipalities.”
