A temporary ban preventing air ambulances from landing at some of B.C.’s busiest hospitals could put patients’ lives at risk, according to a former cardiac nurse.
Connie Jorsvik was outraged to learn Helijet, the company contracted to operate air ambulances in the province, has lost landing privileges at seven hospitals on the South Coast and Vancouver Island.
“I think it could be a life-or-death situation,” Jorsvik told CTV News. “A limb could be lost. A life could be lost. There could be brain damage. There could be irreparable heart damage.”
That’s the difference mere minutes can make when transporting patients who have suffered a heart attack or severe trauma, Jorsvik said.
Helijet has been barred from landing on H1-classified helipads – the kind used at Vancouver General Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital and Royal Columbian Hospital – since Friday over concerns the company’s Sikorsky S76 ambulances don’t comply with Transport Canada regulations.
That means for the time being, patients bound for Royal Columbian or Surrey Memorial are being dropped off at Pitt Meadows Regional Airport, which health officials estimate is about a 15-minute drive away in an ambulance with lights and sirens activated.
Will Anderson knows the preciousness of those extra minutes well. Four years ago he was airlifted to New Westminster after a motorcycle crash in Mission, which left him with critical injuries to his back, neck, arms and chest.
He credits the air ambulance for saving his life, and can’t believe the aircraft are currently being diverted away from hospitals over regulatory concerns.
“I just think it’s absurd. I think the entire purpose of… having the helipad at the hospital is mainly so they can get trauma patients in there as quick as possible,” Anderson said.
NDP health critic Judy Darcy agrees, arguing it’s unacceptable to tack on extra transportation time for patients desperately in need of care.
“Time matters. Speed matters. And an extra 15 minutes is very worrisome for critically ill patients,” she told CTV News.
The issues that led to the temporary ban concern Transport Canada’s helicopter performance requirements for H1 helipads, which require aircraft to be able to maintain visibility and land safely should one of their engines lose power.
The agency has deemed Helijet’s aircraft in non-compliance.
But Helijet, which has been operating air ambulances in B.C. for 18 years, believes the issue with Transport Canada is a misunderstanding, and the company has applied for an exemption it hopes will allow it to start landing on the helipads again this week.
The Provincial Health Services Authority said the situation is manageable for now, noting that alternative transportation plans are sometimes necessary because of weather and other issues.
Critical care patients are also accompanied by highly trained paramedics for their entire journey to hospital, according to the PHSA.
But that’s little reassurance to Jorsvik, who fears patients’ lives might hang in the balance.
“Maybe they can make it, but what if they can’t?” she said. “An OR doctor is so much more equipped than a paramedic could ever be.”
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Rena Heer
