Planning on skiing Big White this season?

[Chmmr]

what about a small staffed clinic then open in daytime and an on call #

Same problem as in Kelowna...trying to find a doctor and nurse to staff it. Physicians are only allowed to cover so many patients a day before their fees are reduced by BC Medical (hence why so many walkin's aren't open the hours they used to be). Plus for on call, that means you would have to have a physician and nurse willing to stay on mountain for the duration of their on call shift. There are doctors that work now in the med hut owned by ski patrol but they leave when the ski day is done.

[keith1612]

As someone who almost lost their life on that mountain, and as someone who intricately knows the ins and outs of medical service at that mountain, this scares the living sh*t out of me. Hundreds of patients need Ambulance service from that mountain every season. The local chapter was always busy and on most weekends they couldn't even keep up. This is completely screwed up.

To put this into perspective a little bit, Big White Ski Patrol will see 40+ and often upwards of 50 10-40's (Incidents or Medical calls) on boxing day alone, every season. Many of these are head trauma, back trauma, broken legs/arms and dislocations.

If I were the management at that mountain I'd SERIOUSLY be questioning the BCAS as to why they feel this is even acceptable. It's not too long ago that there wasn't a dedicated BCAS station up there, but even so that doesn't make it alright.

The Medical staff (Ski Patrol) at Big White are incredible and very well trained, but the fact of the matter is that sometimes you need a hospital to keep people alive, and the Golden Hour is reallllly getting stretched thin here.

well if they see the number of accidents in a single day you are suggesting they dont need a ambulance they need a on site staffed medical center.
time for the rich owners to put out a few more $$$
its not acceptable to have all the available ambulances servicing the rich on ski hills on others expenses.

[mikest2]

"Keith1612 wrote:well if they see the number of accidents in a single day you are suggesting they dont need a ambulance they need a on site staffed medical center.
time for the rich owners to put out a few more $$$
its not acceptable to have all the available ambulances servicing the rich on ski hills on others expenses.[/quote]

Big White is in RDKB, the tax base is large, I've attached links to the RDKB tax reports for Big White and Trail (Area B) for 2012.
Compare the numbers, If taxes have anything to do with it, Trail would not have an ambulance. Time for Big White residents to put out more money ? I think not !

http://www.rdkb.com/LinkClick.aspx?file ... d&tabid=76
http://www.rdkb.com/LinkClick.aspx?file ... d&tabid=76

[Chmmr]

Not only the rich go to big white. We are a very average income family, but it is a sport we choose to do with our kids so we budget to find the money to buy ski passes. Saying that only the rich ski is a bit of an over-generalization

[keith1612]

as i said with 16000 users a day thats 3 cents each for a full time ambulance.
i think the hill itself should fully fund it.
another option would be a user fee if hurt, as skiing is a accident prone hobby then fully charge anyone injured for the associated costs.
you want to play then be willing to pay.

[Chmmr]

as i said with 16000 users a day thats 3 cents each for a full time ambulance.
i think the hill itself should fully fund it.
another option would be a user fee if hurt, as skiing is a accident prone hobby then fully charge anyone injured for the associated costs.
you want to play then be willing to pay.

By that logic. all the drunks and idiots in Kelowna that do stupid things shouldn't be covered by ambulance's either. Big White pays a lot of money to provide first aid on the hill to transport people to the ambulance (which previously was at the medical hut) and for first aid equipment on the hill. Why shoulkd they have to provide transport to a hospital too? Also not everyone at Big White is there to "play as you said. Some are working, some are picking up people, there are all kinds of situations that unexpectedly require emergent medical care and not all of those are related to skiing.

[keith1612]

as i said with 16000 users a day thats 3 cents each for a full time ambulance.
i think the hill itself should fully fund it.
another option would be a user fee if hurt, as skiing is a accident prone hobby then fully charge anyone injured for the associated costs.
you want to play then be willing to pay.

By that logic. all the drunks and idiots in Kelowna that do stupid things shouldn't be covered by ambulance's either. Big White pays a lot of money to provide first aid on the hill to transport people to the ambulance (which previously was at the medical hut) and for first aid equipment on the hill. Why shoulkd they have to provide transport to a hospital too? Also not everyone at Big White is there to "play as you said. Some are working, some are picking up people, there are all kinds of situations that unexpectedly require emergent medical care and not all of those are related to skiing.

well fine dont pay more, just wait like everyone else for a available ambulance.
take a look healthcare is making cutbacks all over.
if the owners of big white are more concerned with sending the money home to Australia then so be it.

[Chmmr]

Good argument, you definitely convinced me

[Symbonite]

Is this thread about ambulances or is it about going to Big white.

As for the OP Question....Nope...Never been to big white either....

G/F wants to go check it out not to ski but check out big white for the snow....no thanks....

[janalta]

By that logic. all the drunks and idiots in Kelowna that do stupid things shouldn't be covered by ambulance's either. Big White pays a lot of money to provide first aid on the hill to transport people to the ambulance (which previously was at the medical hut) and for first aid equipment on the hill. Why shoulkd they have to provide transport to a hospital too? Also not everyone at Big White is there to "play as you said. Some are working, some are picking up people, there are all kinds of situations that unexpectedly require emergent medical care and not all of those are related to skiing.

And...why exactly should we all be paying to provide medical services to cater to a privately run ski resort ???

[mikest2]

By that logic. all the drunks and idiots in Kelowna that do stupid things shouldn't be covered by ambulance's either. Big White pays a lot of money to provide first aid on the hill to transport people to the ambulance (which previously was at the medical hut) and for first aid equipment on the hill. Why shoulkd they have to provide transport to a hospital too? Also not everyone at Big White is there to "play as you said. Some are working, some are picking up people, there are all kinds of situations that unexpectedly require emergent medical care and not all of those are related to skiing.

And...why exactly should we all be paying to provide medical services to cater to a privately run ski resort ???

Big White is a community composed of homeowners, business owners, and guests. Gee, that sounds just like every other community in BC. Some towns only have a mill or a mine, do we consider them "privately run" ?

[Trunk-Monkey]

Uh...Big White is a ski hill....it's not a town.

True enough but the fact remains that in the winter months the community up there is in large numbers and it is a loss for not having BCAS up there. BCAS is the one that was footing the bill for this, as per the media release. In my mind if Big White wants to have BCAS and police on contant stand by up there they need to have something worked out with the city to making sure this happens. Whether it be extra funding or a grant or the like.

[dreamon]

Some people appear to have the opinion that a ski resort caters to the "rich", and is "privately" owned therefore should not have ambulance coverage, or it should be paid for by the rich and/or private owners.

To the people who propagate these thoughts, where do you draw the line? How do you determine who is rich and who is not? If you are injured in your place of employment that is not publicly owned, how do you feel about BCAS either not attending or charging you a surcharge beyond what they already charge?
If you are injured in your private home should they attend?
Maybe you are "richer" than your neighbour. It would be very unfair to your less "rich" neighbour.

Some people appear to have issues with skiers as they think they are "rich".
Many skiers are rich, rich in life, rich in family, but they may not be affluent by most measures.

Skiing is a great family sport, and does need to be expensive at all. People with very varied net worths and incomes ski.

[janalta]

Some people appear to have the opinion that a ski resort caters to the "rich", and is "privately" owned therefore should not have ambulance coverage, or it should be paid for by the rich and/or private owners.

To the people who propagate these thoughts, where do you draw the line? How do you determine who is rich and who is not? If you are injured in your place of employment that is not publicly owned, how do you feel about BCAS either not attending or charging you a surcharge beyond what they already charge?
If you are injured in your private home should they attend?
Maybe you are "richer" than your neighbour. It would be very unfair to your less "rich" neighbour.

Some people appear to have issues with skiers as they think they are "rich".
Many skiers are rich, rich in life, rich in family, but they may not be affluent by most measures.

Skiing is a great family sport, and does need to be expensive at all. People with very varied net worths and incomes ski.

I've been a skier all my life...and have never said a word about anyone being rich or priviledged.
The fact is...Big White has ambulance coverage....just the same coverage as all of the residents of the surrounding area, or any other developments in rural areas in the Okanagan.
No one is taking away medical emergency services....they still exist just as they do for the 8 months a year that it is not ski season.
All that is being suggested is that Big White is not 'entitled' to have tax payers ensure they have 24/7 ambulances standing by just because they are a ski resort.

[bigtdawg]

[/quote]
There is no way an ambulance could travel 131km/hr on the roads to and from Big White, especially in Winter. Not realistic. And they presumably will be dispatching ambulances from Rutland since it is much closer, not from Lake Country. I have been at BW and seen how many ambulances are needed at times. Honestly this could wind up putting more of a strain on the services in the local area and increasing wait times, rather than improving them.[quote]


I already said that its not going to work, not realistic.

Rutland station to big white 55 km
big white to kgh 62 km
117 kms

Even if they leave from rutland, the golden hour of first aiding is still shot to hell.


I was suggesting that because many rich people go to big white, that they would be the ones to complain about the lack of service up there, squeaky wheel gets the grease, and they seem to do a lot of squeaking.