BC Ambulance Service today celebrated 40 years of caring for British Columbia families.

“Congratulations to BC Emergency Health Services and BC Ambulance Service on such an impressive accomplishment,” said Health Minister Terry Lake. “Forty years ago, an ambulance was primarily used as a method of transport, but now BC Ambulance Service essentially sends mobile health care right to a patient’s side using highly trained paramedics, efficient dispatchers and state-of-the-art equipment - a major advancement for patient care.”

The year was 1974, a time when disco ruled the dance floor, bell bottoms were in vogue and B.C.’s first patients were transported in ambulances that resembled station wagons. This year also marked an important milestone for B.C.’s health care system: the first year of operations for Canada’s first provincewide ambulance service.

“The dispatchers who receive the initial call, the paramedics who arrive on scene, and the many support staff who help make this care possible are all committed to providing high-quality emergency medical services,” said Carl Roy, president and chief executive officer, Provincial Health Services Authority and president of BC Emergency Health Services. “Our patients regularly praise our staff’s dedication and compassion, which is what patients remember most about their experience and what BCAS strives to achieve on every call.”  

Forty years ago, BC Ambulance Service’s main focus was on patient transportation. Today, the care and treatment provided by paramedics and dispatchers begins right from the initial 9-1-1 call, and is rooted in innovation. Through an integrated, provincial system, BC Ambulance Service is able to provide seamless pre-hospital care and inter-facility transfer service to patients from all corners of British Columbia.

“Words cannot describe the gratitude I have for BC Ambulance Service’s paramedics and dispatchers,” said Norman Ford, a patient helped by BC Ambulance Service. “Six years ago, a very special paramedic, Ole Olsen, saved my life. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him and the other crew members who provided care. The BC Ambulance Service has not only allowed me to continue spending time with my precious family, but has also inspired my six-year-old granddaughter to become a paramedic.”

Since 1974, BC Ambulance Service paramedics and dispatchers have treated an estimated 12 million patients in British Columbia. And today, British Columbians are invited to share their stories and experiences, and recognize a paramedic or dispatcher who has made a difference in their lives with a new web-based recognition service for paramedics. To submit stories, please visit: www.bcas.ca

A backgrounder follows.

Media Contacts:

Kristy Anderson
Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)

Kelsie Carwithen
BC Emergency Health Services Communications
250 812-5854 (cellphone)

BACKGROUNDER

A history of the BC Ambulance Service

Over the last four decades, BC Ambulance Service has been a leader in many patient-care breakthroughs:

• Creating the world’s first paramedic-only infant transport team program in 1976, and advancing specialized pre-hospital care for children, infants and expectant mothers.
• Treating acute heart attack patients right from the time 9-1-1 is called through to transmitting clinical information from the scene to select hospitals in real time.
• Contributing to research that has resulted increased cardiac arrest survival rates - which have nearly doubled in B.C. since 2005.
• Improving outcomes for stroke patients through early detection during the 9-1-1 call, and ensuring patients are transported to specialized care at stroke-receiving hospitals.
• Transporting blood products on air ambulances to provide life-saving blood transfusions sooner.
• Establishing dispatch protocols to immediately launch a helicopter to trauma patients using information gathered from bystanders, rather than waiting for paramedics to provide an assessment.
• Utilizing critical care paramedics, who essentially bring a mobile intensive care unit to a patient’s side, which allows physicians and nurses in smaller communities to remain in their local hospitals.
• Becoming the first emergency services agency in B.C. to receive accreditation by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch.
• Creating one of North America’s first paramedic bicycle squads in 1992.

BC Emergency Health Services is mandated by the Emergency and Health Services Act to govern the emergency medical services system in B.C. and provide residents, visitors and health-care professionals with pre-hospital emergency and inter-facility patient transfer services.

Media Contacts:

Kristy Anderson
Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)

Kelsie Carwithen
BC Emergency Health Services Communications
250 812-5854 (cellphone)