'Nobody showed up' when 8-year-old fainted; B.C. family sounds alarm on paramedic shortage
A Surrey, B.C., mother was frightened when her eight-year-old daughter came out of the bathroom, started crying and screaming in pain, then suddenly fainted on Saturday afternoon.
“She said, ‘I feel like throwing up,’” recalled Sadaf Khan, “and she passed out right away and she fell on the floor.”
She said her daughter, Aria, woke up several seconds later but didn’t know what happened as she continued to cry out in pain.
“We have never seen her in this condition. We were so worried,” Khan said.
Minutes before, Aria took a fall while trying to close the bathroom window, which she wasn’t able to explain to her parents at the moment.
Khan called 911 from their Surrey home, and they waited for more than 20 minutes before calling again.
“I thought in my mind they might come within five minutes or 10 minutes, but it was too long, like nobody showed up,” she said.
Khan said she had to explain what happened to the dispatcher for the second time, and then was told there was no ambulance available and it would be faster if they took their daughter to the hospital instead.
Once they saw a doctor in the emergency room and Aria underwent several tests, she was bandaged up and sent home.
Khan said she’s glad it wasn’t anything serious, but believes no one should have to wait that long for help.
She said her elderly mother had to wait an hour for an ambulance just six months ago, so it isn’t the first time her family has experienced this delay.
“As soon as you call in for 911, it means this is an emergency,” she said.
BUSY WEEKEND FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
Troy Clifford, president of Paramedics Ambulance of B.C., said what the Khan family experienced was “unacceptable.”
“When they call for help, they need to know that the ambulance is there for the timely medical access to emergency care and treatment and transport in their time of emergency," Clifford told CTV News. "That's clearly not happening in those situations, and we need answers."
He was told at least 35 per cent of ambulances, and potentially upwards of 50 per cent, sat in parking lots this weekend because there weren’t enough paramedics to staff them.
Clifford it was busy across the Lower Mainland, but especially in Surrey.
“Surrey in the Fraser Valley is one of our highest call volume areas because of the growth that's out there,” he explained.
He said the province needs to commit to recruiting more paramedics and get rid of the on-call system in which paramedics are paid $2 an hour.
In an email to CTV News Vancouver, the Ministry of Health said so far this year, it has hired 263 paramedics and another 400 positions will be posted next month.
But BC Liberal health critic Renee Merrifield questions whether the new hires have addressed the critical issues.
“It's not just about how many we have, it's are they full time? Are they part time? Are they casual on call? How are they being remunerated or paid when they are on call?” she as.
“We need a strategic plan for how we need staffing for what that looks like, where we need the staffing most What the highest call times are, and we need to then equip to that plan and make sure that that plan gets rolled out appropriately,” she said.
The ministry said it takes the issue seriously and is working to address the challenges.
“Important changes are currently being rolled-out to our staffing model across the province…The new staffing model is aimed at improving emergency response coverage and creating a more stable paramedic workforce,” it said in a statement.
The Khans hope the challenges mean no other families in B.C. are told there are no ambulances available when a loved one needs help.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Israel gave U.S. last-minute warning about drone attack on Iran, Italian foreign minister says at G7
The United States told the Group of Seven foreign ministers on Friday that it received 'last minute' information from Israel about a drone action in Iran, but didn't participate in the apparent attack, officials said.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
BREAKING Iran fires at apparent Israeli attack drones near Isfahan air base and nuclear site
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
Ottawa to force banks to call carbon rebate a carbon rebate in direct deposits
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.