Paramedics in Prince Rupert want to be considered an essential service and they’re petitioning for change with their colleagues across the province.
From Jan. 9 until April 10 paramedics are vying for signatures to amend the health authorities act so they are placed under the police and fire bargaining unit.
In 2011, the government grouped paramedics and dispatchers into the health bargaining system, under the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), along with administrators, cleaning, IT, lab technicians and service staff.
“We are currently less than 10 per cent of the facilities bargaining. There are 47,000 staff, under 270 job titles, ranging from IT specialist, maintenance, to lab techs. We don’t share the same needs,” Heather Rose said, a representative of B.C. paramedics on the North Coast.
One of the largest concerns is that paramedics don’t have a say over striking, rejecting or accepting contracts. The last contract negotiation was in 2014, and 96 per cent of facilities had a strike mandate.
“This is a scary place to be as an essential service. Once we become part of the police and fire act, it would protect the public from service interruptions,” Rose said.
Petitioning paramedics are looking to make the amendment to the health authorities act before the next contract negotiation in 2019. If successful, under the new act, a neutral third party would negotiate between the government and paramedics.
Through Elections BC’s unique initiative process, paramedics and volunteer canvassers are attempting to gather signatures from 10 per cent of the registered voting population in all 85 electoral districts to propose changes to the existing law.
The government’s logic
But what was the government’s initial logic for bringing ambulance and emergency health services into the Provincial Health Services Authority in 2011, which also deemed them a non-essential service? Ministry of Health spokesperson Lori Cascaden stated the reasoning was to have them work more closely with the broader health system.
“Since that time BC Emergency Health Services (BCESH) has made progress in improving care and the experience for patients through initiatives,” Cascaden said in an email listing programs in the Lower Mainland.
“BCESH is also now helping direct patients to more appropriate care – keeping patients out of emergency departments unnecessarily and getting ambulances back on the road faster,” she said.
In Vancouver, a program started in May 2016 that redirects patients with mental health or substance abuse issues from the emergency room at the Vancouver General Hospital to the Access and Assessment Centre. Vancouver Coastal Health expect the emergency department will have 4,000 fewer patients per year under this program.
“Strengthening the relationship between the health authorities and Emergency and Health Services Commission (EHSC) will increase innovation in pre-hospital care and enhance the role of paramedics in the health care system, particularly in rural and remote communities,” as stated in the 2011-2012 EHSC Annual Report on the transfer of paramedics to the Provincial Health Services Authority.
However, Rose’s experience as a paramedic in a rural community given her a different perspective.
Being a paramedic in Prince Rupert
Some paramedics can work up to 250 hours in a two week period. There are limitations on how much they can work per day without periods of rest — they’re not meant to work 16 hours straight but at times depending on how the calls come in they can be on call for 36 hours straight, meaning that they have to respond to the detachment within 10 minutes.
This is Rose's first placement. As a young paramedic, she was looking for a detachment where she would have the most work. She said they’re a small crew and they do an average three to four calls per shift.
Before April, Rose needs 1,300 signatures from the community. “It’s important to me because this is the beginning of my career and I could have another 25-30 years in the service and I’d love to make change now to have it support me in the long term,” she said.
Being considered an essential service is one of the major changes the paramedics want, but there are other details that Rose and others feel need to be addressed in the next contract negotiations. For the first five years, a paramedic is considered a part-time employee and they don’t receive health benefits.
In the sixth year, a paramedic is considered a full-time employee and they no longer have to pay for their own medical services plan or dental care. Rose is a part-time employee despite working full-time hours and more.
Paramedics and volunteers will be canvassing for signatures on Saturdays at Safeway from noon until 3 p.m. and they will also have a booth at the All-Native Basketball Tournament.
Rose said that people can email her at heatherr_06@hotmail.com for more information on the petition.