B.C. Health Services Minister George Abbott says Metro Vancouver residents will benefit from a $2-million investment in 20 new full-time paramedic positions.
Abbott also says the recent implementation of a $4-million computer-aided dispatch system will help the B.C. Ambulance Service manage increasing call volumes.
The minister says the funding means the addition of three ambulances and two 11-hour shifts during peak daytime hours.
Ministry figures show demand for ambulance service in the Lower Mainland has increased by 21 per cent in the past five years.
But paramedics say 20 additional positions is not enough to handle the case load. Earlier this year, the B.C. Ambulance service sounded the alarm over what it called a "critical" shortage of paramedics - asking for at least double that number.
"Although a few new resources are a good thing, it's not enough to meet critical demand that's been identified by paramedics and the B.C. Ambulance Service," says William Chute from the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C.
'This decision is putting patient's lives at risk by not implementing the critical shortage immediately."
The B.C. Ambulance Service (BCAS) responded to 304,269 calls in 2007/08, up from 250,857 in 2003/04. That number includes 911 calls and inter-facility transfers.
During peak daytime hours, there are 80 ambulances dedicated to Metro Vancouver, with an additional 38 operating in the Fraser Valley, Sunshine Coast-Powell River and Sea-to-Sky corridor.
The national average wait time for ambulance service is eight minutes. Chute says getting ambulances on the road faster using a better computer system will help, but not if more paramedics aren't hired soon.
"Our ambulances are not able to make it to patient's side in eight minutes and sometimes our response time is double that, somewhere around 15 or 16 minutes," says Chout.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jina You
