Mayor says new ambulance model will ‘save lives’ in his community

Nov 14, 2023 | 12:00 PM

The mayor of Lumby says the B.C. government’s new model for ambulance service will have a major impact on his community.

Kevin Acton said the new staffing models announced last week by the health ministry will “save lives.”

Lumby is one of 21 communities in line for the “alpha model,” which will have paramedics in station and on duty 24-7, three times more than the current model.

“My very first thought is that it’s going to save lives because the wait times for ambulances out here sometimes can be pretty extraordinary,” Acton told Vernon Matters. “The new [model] will see paramedics available 24-7 and that makes a big difference when you’re talking about emergency medicine.”

Acton said the new system will see eight paramedics in the village with a full rotation.

Pay

Vernon's mayor and council pay going up as originally planned

12h ago

Official Community Plan

Vernon's new OCP officially adopted

12h ago

Shopping Interruption

Vernon's mall evacuated after fire alarm pulled

13h ago

“In emergency medicine, they call the first hour the Golden Hour because if you’re going to save somebody’s life that’s seriously injured, they have to get medical attention within that hour.”

Filling the positions still has to happen.

“That will be B.C. Ambulance’s next challenge,” Acton remarked. “A lot of people left [the ambulance service] over the last 10 years over attrition, and as far as I know, they’ve been working hard to recruit new people. These types of changes will encourage people to definitely join the force and be part of the ambulance service.”

The mayor said Emergency Health Services is hoping to have the paramedics hired by next April.

“I’m hoping they will be able to get that done. This is a beautiful part of the world and a lot of people would probably like to come up from the coast and live here, so that’s something we can look forward to.”

Acton said the new model should also benefit other nearby communities.

“It’s not just a town of 2,200. This whole area is about 8,000 people and I’m sure that ambulance will also be able to assist with Coldstream, Lavington and Vernon calls as well. B.C. Ambulance is really good at making the best use of all of their staff and resources. They work well within their defined budget.”

Acton, who has been Lumby’s mayor since 2009, was a B.C. Ambulance paramedic for six years in the 1990s and later moved on to a career in massage therapy.

Acton admits Lumby, like other communities, is challenged as far as housing for new residents.

“There are some houses available, but were not overloaded with stock. But we do have a couple of big subdivisions that are teetering on completion and also there is another subdivision of duplexes that’s in the process of building a couple more, so there will be some housing coming on line but were still waiting for the market to change. Development has slowed down a little bit because of the cost of borrowing money.”

Lumby lost its last bank, Scotiabank, earlier this fall, which Acton admits was a blow.

“We’re working on a plan to get one back into town, to entice another financial institution, but we have everything you need to live comfortably and not have to go out of town too often. We have grocery stores and restaurants, a high school and elementary school that are both well attended. There is lots of young families. Our average age is quite young. Anybody that is coming in here will fit right into the community.”

Acton said one day Lumby may have to look a new facility for the ambulance service as they are currently sharing a building with doctor’s offices.

“It’s pretty tight in there and they could both use some more space, so that’s something Lumby and council has been talking about over the past few years to try and attract exactly what we got, so we might have to step up the plate a little bit. We’ll see once it gets underway and how it all works out.”

by Pete McIntyre

View Comments