A new ambulance station on the south side of Francois Lake has lowered response times and improved service to the largely rural community.
The eight paramedics who service the area, which includes the communities of Southbank, Grassy Plains and Danskin, had been working out of a rented location in an old building above a building supply store for a decade before the new station was completed last month. A grand opening for the new 2,400 square-foot facility was held Tuesday afternoon.
Southside unit chief Dieter Philipp said the new station has "all the bells and whistles" the old location was lacking, but more importantly it's in a central location, allowing paramedics to cut response times by five to seven minutes. The new building, located at 33860 Keefes Landing Road, is also at a higher elevation, which makes for easier radio communication and dispatching.
"The quicker you get there, the better," Philipp said, adding the large geographic area his station covers still means the ambulance sometimes travels upwards of an hour to get to a call.
The paramedics at Southside also need to collaborate with the ferry operator on Francois Lake because the nearest hospital is in Burns Lake and requires a boat trip to access. Day or night, Philipp said the co-ordination between the first responders and the ferry crews has been flawless.
"The ferry crew are a great bunch of people, they make it work," Philipp said. "As soon as we get the call, we call the ferry and the ferry comes over to our side and co-oridinates with us regarding the time frame and then they sit there and wait for us."
The B.C. Ambulance Service has had a station on the south side of Francois Lake for 10 years, before that the region was serviced by the Burns Lake paramedics, meaning two ferry trips were needed to respond to each call.
