The B.C. auditor general's finding that the B.C. Ambulance Service has failed to track performance for its air ambulance service strengthens the call for a helicopter-based service in northern B.C., says the president of a non-profit group seeking to make the idea a reality.
Northern B.C. Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operations Society (HEROS) president Brent Marshall believes the report provides a step towards BCAS recognizing the service is needed in this region of the province.
Launched in December, HEROS is gathering funding to help pay for a service modeled on the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) in Alberta.
"We're trying to help them [BCAS] but we're obviously saying the first part is they have to acknowledge we need this service in northern B.C....It's all about working together to improve their service, save lives, improve patient outcomes," Marshall said.
In his report released Thursday, auditor general John Doyle found in part that BCAS could do more to ensure it provides aircraft and paramedics based on patient needs.
"Taking a look at whether it has paramedics and aircraft in the right locations and regularly reviewing dispatch decisions could help the B.C. Ambulance Service improve its air ambulance service," Doyle in a press release.
BCAS CEO Les Fisher said Doyle's recommendations and part of the work in response will be a "blank slate look at our service and say, if we were to design it from scratch today, where would we put things and see if we've got things in the right place."
Moreover, he said a discussion with HEROS could be part of that exercise.
"It's a model that could be beneficial but it has to be a part of the overall healthcare system and meet with the patient flows within Northern Health's trauma system as well," Fisher said. "We need to take at look at if from a real practical perspective because it's a big money venture regardless of where the money comes from, whether it comes from taxpayers or whether it comes from charitable donations."
BCAS helicopter services are based in Vancouver, Kamloops and Prince Rupert, Marshall noted, leaving a "huge hole" in the middle of the province. BCAS does provide an airplane-based medivac service out of Prince George.
But Marshall said a dedicated helicopter service with critical care paramedics on board will provide quicker response times for industrial and motor vehicle accidents in remote areas of northern B.C.
"You can't drive 10 minutes on our highways without seeing crosses for all the people who have died," Marshall said. "How many of those do you have to see to realize there is a problem?"
