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"Working Together for Life"

The British Columbia Ambulance Service

BCAS provides public ambulance service in BC under the authority of the Emergency Health Services Commission of the provincial Ministry of Health. The commission is mandated to oversee the broad responsibility of overall emergency medical service provision, regulation and direction in BC.

Brief History

The province has had a long history of varying degrees of involvement with ambulance service provision to the citizens of BC. However, it was not until July 1, 1974 that government legislation was enacted to create the BCAS. It was formed in response to growing concerns about the conditions then present in the ambulance industry of the day. Emergency pre-hospital medical services were supplied by a mixture of commercial operators – some operating from funeral homes – some partially subsidized by municipalities – some based with volunteer fire departments – and some of which existed on paid subscriptions from the public. The competition between ambulance companies was intense, standards were not uniformly observed, and effective patient care was often an afterthought.

Over the past 32 years, the BCAS has evolved into a single unified operation, decentralized by design, but providing the organizational structure necessary for system improvements in operational efficiency, effectiveness and quality of care. This growth has taken a gradual path, as over its history the BCAS has assumed responsibility for ambulance service provision in communities increasingly more distant from the population centres of the Lower Mainland and Victoria. [MORE ...]

Today's Service

The service now employs about 1,100 full-time paramedic and dispatch personnel, 2,200 part-time staff, and 100 management and support personnel. The provincial call volume is about 530,000 calls annually, ranking the BCAS as one of the largest ambulance services in North America. The system bridges major regional disparities in both geography and population density across the province.

Training

Training continues to be improved in terms of medical knowledge and paramedic skill development, as well as becoming more accessible with regional training centres and innovative distance learning methods. The Paramedic Academy of the Justice Institute of BC is considered a world leader in the development of emergency medical services courses and training systems. The Paramedic Academy also delivers the provincial First Responder Program, which provides basic first aid and support training for police and fire personnel who may arrive on an accident or injury scene before paramedics. The program gives patients the fastest response possible and often provides extra pairs of trained hands to assist paramedics in life and death medical emergencies. The Paramedic Academy offers training to the public and BCAS employees.

Air Ambulance

The air ambulance program provides the necessary transportation linkages between hospitals and referral centres across the province. The Provincial Air Ambulance Co-ordination Centre (PAACC) plans and dispatches more than 8,800 air evacuations annually.

BCAS does not own its own aircraft but leases dedicated air ambulance aircraft from provincial carriers. The current airevac program operates from bases in Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, Prince Rupert, and Prince George. Dispatch is located in Victoria.

Patient Transfers

The BCAS also does more than 144,000 patient transfers between medical facilities by ground ambulances. Many of these responses cut across district, municipal and health authority boundaries. Regional dispatching of ambulances allows for rapid deployment of ambulance crews to a given area as the available resources are utilized. The ability to direct ambulances through a common communications system provides for fast and seamless responses while ensuring emergency coverage levels are maintained. This ability is particularly important during times of extreme weather conditions or in local disasters.

The BCAS provides co-ordinated service delivery across regional jurisdictions. At the same time, the importance of strong communication linkages between the ambulance service and health authorities is also recognized. These linkages are being developed and strengthened at the senior management level. This co-ordination is vital to effective planning for improved patient care for all British Columbians.

BCAS Mission Statement

To provide timely and high quality emergency medical services

We do this by:

• caring for and about our patients and staff;
• providing creative solutions for changing health care needs;
• collaborating with our partners in the health care system and the community as a whole.

Published: December 10, 2000 | Last Edit: Tuesday, May 6, 2008