Ambulance calls are up amid B.C.'s second extreme heat wave of the summer
With B.C. dealing with another heat wave and some of the worst air quality in the world, 911 call volume is already up for paramedics this weekend.
“We’ve seen the heat, the humidity, but we’ve also seen the smoke so that brings in those respiratory calls. People that have shortness of breath, cardiac issues or just the more vulnerable patients who are sensitive to the smoke. It’s all things that are going to add to our call volume this weekend,” said Troy Clifford, president of Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers of B.C.
So far in August, paramedics have responded to 47 heat-related calls, according to B.C. Emergency Health Services. Twelve calls were recorded on Thursday. In June, when B.C. experienced the record-breaking heat dome, there were 829 calls to paramedics and 570 deaths. The B.C. Coroner’s Service says it’s too soon to determine if the current heatwave has led to any deaths.
Since B.C.’s historic heat dome, BC Ambulance has implemented new measures to deal with staffing shortages. Eighty-five paramedic positions were recently posted, primarily in the Lower Mainland. Thirty dispatchers were also added in three communication centres.
“It isn’t a lot. It doesn’t address what we need. But it still adds a number of ambulances to the Lower Mainland,” said Clifford.
With the heat wave expected to last until Sunday morning, Clifford is reminding everyone to check on the elderly, your neighbours and anyone who may be vulnerable in this type of weather.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.