Fort St. John city council plans to take a deeper look into a recent report from British Columbia’s Forest Safety Ombudsman that highlights an attitude among emergency service providers that rural living is a “choice” that comes with less levels of service compared to urban centres.

In his report, ombudsman Roger Harris notes those living or working near an urban centre expect to be taken to hospital in less than an hour, while those in rural BC have no such assurances.

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Harris notes it recently took emergency responders 24 hours to transport a stroke victim from a location three hours north of Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek, a trip that would have taken less than an hour by helicopter. Elsewhere, a worker waited more than 12 hours at the site of his accident north of Prince George before he was rescued and transported to a hospital.

The report further outlines a rural-urban divide, where attitudes gleaned from interviews with BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) and BC Emergency Health Services (BCEMS) workers suggested that those living in rural B.C. “made a choice” and could not expect the same levels of service as in the Lower Mainland.

“We should look at this very clearly,” Mayor Lori Ackerman said this week.

“The residents of northern British Columbia do need to be able to expect a higher level of service. There are good recommendations in this report and that’s what we’re going to take a look at at an upcoming meeting and maybe taking a resolution to the North Central Local Government Association.”

Among Harris’ recommendations are mandated timelines for access to trauma care and a review of decades-old ambulance service legislation. That includes giving emergency responders more flexibility to work with other service providers when transporting accident victims.

“Faster care results in less overall health care costs: It is an accepted fact the quicker an accident victim can access medical care, the better the medical outcomes, the shorter the period of time for rehabilitation resulting in an overall lower cost to the health care system,” Harris writes.

“As emergency response is one component of the cost, investing more in ensuring patients receive timelier treatment, could result in overall savings to the cost of moving a patient through the system.”

Ackerman added more must be done to change the tone at the top of organizations where rural-urban divide attitudes exist.

“There are no technical barriers to achieving an adequate and appropriate response,” she said. “The choice is there and we have to bring that up, and make sure the decision makers are aware that the residents across this province are important.”

editor@ahnfsj.ca