Planning on skiing Big White this season?

[edwardv]

According to the front page, that ambulance is now going to be stationed in Lake Country.
Hard to argue that there is more of a need there than at Big White

It has less to do with covering lake country and more to do with adding resources to the Kelowna area which is becoming more and more drained. Lake Country just happens to have an empty bay and also houses the ambulance during the summer.

[joer2012]

According to the front page, that ambulance is now going to be stationed in Lake Country.
Hard to argue that there is more of a need there than at Big White

It has less to do with covering lake country and more to do with adding resources to the Kelowna area which is becoming more and more drained. Lake Country just happens to have an empty bay and also houses the ambulance during the summer.

Since the DLC area has had a few cardiac related cases recently where it took hours to get the patient into KGH, probably a wise move anyways. Maybe saving lives is important. For residents, maybe more so than drunken drugged up Aussie ski bums who self-inflict harm through their own personal negligence and poor life choices, rather than a senior who just got seriously ill.

[SurplusElect]

Big White can't afford to put a private ambulance on staff?

[theyeti]

when i work up north we have private ambulance . those guys make 500 or so a day . compared to 2 bucks an hr . amazing a single person bothers to work for bcas

[mullyman]

hmmm, not enough volume? lets hope this thinking isnt applied on a bigger scale... vancouver needs more ambulances than kelowna, so, let's move the cars there.... on the jobsite, we don't cut back on first aid coverage because there are less incidents, it is base on the potential for need , based on numbers. also, lets consider, that now, an ambulance is going to have to travel TWO ways at code 3, in , often treacherous road conditions, rather than one way code 3 , returning code 2. For those of you that talked about the medical clinic, it is not run by the mountain, and is only open monday to friday, because the dr. works emerg in merrit on weekends( dr shortages in small towns). perhaps, the comprimise, is to put a car in joe rich(fire hall) which would service the mtn and kelowna.

[keith1612]

for the amount a ski hill charges customers they can afford to hire a private service or pay the government to supply a full time service.
its a option to go up there and take the risks associated with it.
if i want to go snowmobiling in the back country i understand i may have a very long wait for help, skiing is no different.

[JoePlanner]

As has been said by BCAS, their normal model is to service ski resorts from the nearest community. And before anyone points to Whistler (which does have an ambulance station, along with a much larger population), you have to recognize that it is an incorporated resort municipality which taxes and provides all manner of services to residents (a very different beast than the unincorporated Big White).

I have zero problem at all with Big White receiving the same BCAS service as other resorts; they had it good for a long time and are now upset that they are being treated equally. As a business they can contract to BCAS or a private ambulance for additional service if that is their desire.

[mullyman]

and have you any idea how much property tax is paid by all those accommodations at b.w.? don't think day skiers.. think winter residences. there is a large population there in the winter, which is not under the umbrella of the ski hill company.

[keith1612]

and have you any idea how much property tax is paid by all those accommodations at b.w.? don't think day skiers.. think winter residences. there is a large population there in the winter, which is not under the umbrella of the ski hill company.

as a group they should approach the owners and suggest they all pitch in then.
any people who choose to move away from a city and live in the mountains have to understand and accept the risks they picked.
if Big White became a city or town then i suppose they could lobby for government full time service.
as it stands its a bunch of rich folks who want to go play all winter, well they can fork over a bit more for their safety i would think.

[AllthatFunk]

No ambulance service at Biggie isn't going to change my willingness to ski up there. The ski patrol are highly trained, the medical staff/volunteers in the clinic are the same doctors and nurses that take care of you in town. Kelowna now has a heli-pad to help with urgent situations that require quick extraction.

People are on Big White year round and they do just fine without the ambulance during other seasons. As for those of you worried about the loggers,campers,hikers etc. Look around this massive province. Head out into the back country on any given summer weekend and you will find tons of people enjoying themselves and working without worrying if they have an ambulance at their camp site or mountain resort.

IMO the only ones we should be concerned about are the paramedics that may have their hours cut or jobs lost.

[SurplusElect]

and have you any idea how much property tax is paid by all those accommodations at b.w.?

Considering how much water Big White pulls out of the watershed in order to flush toilets, make snow, fill hot tubs and wash dishes to turn a profit (profit from Canada's natural resources) I don't see why they should get "extra" coverage.

Beaverdell residents pay taxes too, and get the same level of service.

[MrRusty]

Big White in the summer has a population around 500 to 750 and that's stretching it... And no ambulance
In the winter Big White swells to 16000+ with 24 hour activities (night life) They pay taxes they have a satellite RCMP office, volunteer Fire Department, and a day clinic staffed. THEY are a community without the official name.
Any village, town, city that size has an ambulance 24/7 365. Midway has an ambulance, there smaller. Edgewood has a ambulance, there smaller. Clinton,Boston Bar, Lumby, Bella Coola,Bella Bella, Alert Bay, Nakusp,New Denver, Slocan, you get the drift. They have an Ambulance 24/7
And don't get me going about the Helicopter Thing... Private Enterprise for private profit. Go sell your snake oil some where else.
I Fly I know they fly in clear daylight, daytime. If they have a night rating, that's good, still has to have clear weather. Yes and infared navigation is marginal at best.
But I guess there's no fog at Big White
But I guess I should shut up as the "Stars Lovers" will get upset.
And an ambulance from Kelowna is 30 minutes plus at best, more like 45 to a hour. Helicopter from Kamloops same thing by the time they get going and again good weather. Joe Rich gets an ambulance in 10 to 15 if there's one at Miller road.
Flame on

[Kyle77]

Big White was the only ski resort in the province with an ambulance stationed on the hill. Others like Sun Peaks, Silver Star, and Panorama have to wait for a car to come from town. Sun Peaks is incorporated as a Resort Municipality (a town with mayor and council), the others are all ski resorts. All of these ski resorts that I mentioned have fire departments who will respond to calls requiring medical attention that are not located on the ski runs. Majority of ski patrols are not covered by insurance to respond to the guy who passed out at Snowshoe Sams and needs medical attention. These types of calls would be going through 911 and then dispatched to BCAS and the local fire department first responders.

If you go into any major ski resort's patrol base area you will see that they can handle majority of calls until an ambulance arrives. They are set up like small emergency rooms, sometimes even better equipped. They are staffed by patroller with a minimum 80 hour first aid course who have also taken Advanced Protocol training thus making their training almost equivalent to an EMR. Some of these ski resorts also have an Emergency Medical Response Team of volunteers made up of doctors, nurses, and paramedics who carry a pager or radio and respond to the patrol when the level of injuries requires the extra level of training. I would feel comfortable if a family member or myself were seriously hurt at any of these ski resorts even if the wait time for an ambulance was close to an hour.

The ambulance cutback at Big White is just a small item. People need to see the big picture of the cutbacks throughout the province when it comes to Ambulance service.

[dreamon]

And don't get me going about the Helicopter Thing... Private Enterprise for private profit. Go sell your snake oil some where else.
I Fly I know they fly in clear daylight, daytime. If they have a night rating, that's good, still has to have clear weather. Yes and infared navigation is marginal at best.
But I guess there's no fog at Big White
But I guess I should shut up as the "Stars Lovers" will get upset.

Funny, I've seen the privately owned air ambulances work very effectively in other places. Canadians (of which I proudly am one) as a whole have an aversion if someone whould potentially make a profit.
Ornge is Ontario is an example of air ambulance gone bad. Stars is a good example. Speak to anyone in Northern Alberta or NE BC who has used it, they will speak glowingly.
A helicopter only requires 1nm forward visibility and to be clear of cloud for daytime VFR, or less under certain conditions that an air ambulance would fall under. At night they need 3nm and clear of cloud.
I've never heard of infrared navigation. Heard of thermal imaging, nightsuns and such but never used for navigation. Can you please enlighten us all as to what infrared navigation is and is approved by TC under CARS?

[keith1612]

Big White in the summer has a population around 500 to 750 and that's stretching it... And no ambulance
In the winter Big White swells to 16000+ with 24 hour activities (night life) They pay taxes they have a satellite RCMP office, volunteer Fire Department, and a day clinic staffed. THEY are a community without the official name.
Any village, town, city that size has an ambulance 24/7 365. Midway has an ambulance, there smaller. Edgewood has a ambulance, there smaller. Clinton,Boston Bar, Lumby, Bella Coola,Bella Bella, Alert Bay, Nakusp,New Denver, Slocan, you get the drift. They have an Ambulance 24/7
And don't get me going about the Helicopter Thing... Private Enterprise for private profit. Go sell your snake oil some where else.
I Fly I know they fly in clear daylight, daytime. If they have a night rating, that's good, still has to have clear weather. Yes and infared navigation is marginal at best.
But I guess there's no fog at Big White
But I guess I should shut up as the "Stars Lovers" will get upset.
And an ambulance from Kelowna is 30 minutes plus at best, more like 45 to a hour. Helicopter from Kamloops same thing by the time they get going and again good weather. Joe Rich gets an ambulance in 10 to 15 if there's one at Miller road.
Flame on

you sure missed alot of small communities that do not have ambulance service.
with 16000+ people solely flooding in to ski and party im sure they can kick in 3cents a day each extra to pay the $500 daily expense to have a private ambulance available.