A paramedic’s plea for help
I am a paramedic working for the BC Ambulance Service. For fear of disciplinary action I must remain anonymous as our employer has gag orders on us to not speak to the media about the state of the ambulance service.
I, like most paramedics, am passionate about my work. One does not do this job for the money, you do it because you love the work.
People in BC need to know the state that their ambulance service is in. Our lower level management has no proper training and care little about the paramedics on the street.
Our resources are at an abysmal level. People are forced to wait long periods of time for an ambulance to show up. We get told by our management to just do more with less; well, we can’t do any more.
We work 12-hour shifts and with our call volume rising by thousands every year, we have no down time.
We start our shifts, leave the station and rarely ever get back until the end of the shift. We do not get any breaks due to us being an emergency service. As long as there are calls holding we work, and there are always calls holding.
Our resources on the street have remained at an almost stagnant level for the past 10 to 12 years. The only thing that has really changed is our ranks in management have almost tripled.
Our employer is concerned with nothing but budget and liability.
At all hours of the day and night we respond to your (the public) calls, whether it be your home, work, the streets and all places in between. We do show up, we do care, but we are also tired and burning out at an alarming rate.
Do not think that while you wait for an ambulance that is taking a long time to show, that we are having lunch or coffee or on a break of any kind – it’s just that there are few ambulances available to respond.
We come to your aid daily, so we are now asking for your help. We need more resources, not more managers.
I ask you, the public, to get on social media, write letters to your city council, your MLA, to the premier.
This is your ambulance service. You deserve better service and should not have to wait when you or a loved one is in need of help.
If this letter is printed, my employers’ response will be one of denial, of course. It’s embarrassing to them, and to admit there is a problem means they must fix it.
We, the paramedics, have no power to make a change. Our hands and mouths are tied and gagged and the power is yours to make a difference.
We have come to your aid in your time of need for years; now we are asking for your help. Please help us in order for us to better help you.
A concerned paramedic
(Name withheld by request)
Where is opt-out program?
The BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) has ruled that FortisBC must provide a good opt-out program to its power customers.
The commission has determined the amount of the opt-out program and informed Fortis in early January 2014.
I am writing this letter because of my concern that Fortis has not informed its customers or the media of this important program.
This program is for those customers who choose to not have a radiation emitting “smart meter” in their home. The BCUC has ruled that there will be a one-time only charge of $60 for the opt-out program, plus an additional charge of $18 each time the meter is read.
When Fortis installs the smart meter it will be turned off, provided you have applied for the opt-out program. If you apply after installation it will cost $88.
When I checked with Fortis, I was informed that installation would begin in the next few months. They also had no set schedule to inform their customers of the opt-out program that is available.
There is no application form to opt out. If you decide to opt out, you should phone Fortis at the number on your power bill and ask them to put your name and account number on the opt-out list.
Also, ask for the name and employee number of the person putting your name on the list so you have proof of your application.
I have registered to opt-out but have a lock on my analog meter and a sign which states that this is my private property and because of health concerns I will be keeping my analog meter.
Fortis may then send you information about how wonderful their smart meter is, but in fact, there has been no long-term studies to prove the safety of these devices to the human body.
The meter will pulse and radiate our homes and our bodies every 60 seconds 24 hours a day, and you can’t turn it off.
The World Health Organization has classified this type of wireless technology as a possible carcinogen. I trust their judgment before I can trust industry.
Independent experts who have studied radiation and the effects on the body have said that smart meters may be 50 times more powerful then the cell phone.
The pulsing radiation affects the whole body at a cellular level and you cannot turn it off – you can only turn it off if you opt out.
Two of the well known independent researchers are Dr. Magda Havas, a Canadian researcher and Dr. Daniel Hirsche, a top radiation expert in the United States, at the University of Southern California.
Thousands of electrical customers under BC Hydro and FortisBC have put locks on their analog meters.
Fortis may say that they will turn your power off, but in fact this is probably illegal because BC Hydro has an estimated 85,000 customers with locks on their analog meters, and their power has not been turned off.
One customer who actually tampered with her smart meter by removing it did have her power turned off.
Any FortisBC customers wanting to view options for locking their analog or digital meter can do so by searching Google – “smart meter locks.”
Judy Nicholas, Oliver
Enforcement is key
Your report on Bylaw 1224 missed several salient points. For example, it is important that the Town consistently enforces our bylaws.
By-law 1224 provides important tools for animal control and public safety and also offers some reasonable restrictions on dog owners; namely the dawn to 9 am off-leash privilege outside the confines of the fenced ball diamond.
I commented that there have been numerous and recorded occasions of two dogs being at large and totally unsupervised by their owner. At times there were three dogs at large and this has led to a pack mentality and aggression.
The Town enforces its bylaws on a complaint basis, but this can result in unfair application because it is driven first by budgetary concerns and then it falls to staff to determine what constitutes a reasonable complaint.
If the dawn to 9 am privilege is removed at a future date, nothing will change; scoff-laws will continue to ignore the bylaw and responsible dog owners will be marginalized. Thus, the scoff-laws prevail and there is little reason for law-abiding residents to remain compliant with the bylaw.
Pat Hampson, Oliver
