BC Paramedics petition

[gordon_as]

Gordon_as, I have to ask and admit I might have missed it earlier but did you ask any of them the questions you are asking here. Are they deliberately hiding the information you are questioning or is it there for the asking. Are they refusing to answer if you have questions or for that matter even deflecting. It would be interesting to know. In fact if I run into one of their stands and I will try, I am going to ask them. Hopefully I can get back to you.

Here is a facebook post from a fellow named Josh XXXXXX.....
All day every day on social media I see dispatchers, paramedics and members of the public staffing canvassing events around the province to gather signatures for the petition. I also have the absolute honour of travelling around the province to meet with so many of these amazing people first hand, and it is the most humbling and gratifying experience you can imagine.

And....... here is his response when I posted Too bad they don't mention the financial benefit that they will undoubtedly gain. Their campaign is disingenous at best. It's about the money folks.

Josh XXXXXX · Victoria, British Columbia
Not true at all, and I would challenge you to support that claim with anything.

And from CKNW ...
]A B.C. paramedic and peers around the province are collecting signatures to petition the government to consider ambulance service paramedics and dispatchers an essential service like fire and police.
Joshua XXXXXX says the roughly 4,000 paramedics are now under the Health Authorities Act.
This means they bargain along with hospital support staff like lab techs, clerks, and cleaning staff.



And for anyone who might be inclined to claim that Josh is just a small cog in this wheel , and may have been under informed by his peers. http://elections.bc.ca/recall-initiativ ... ining-act/
Check out who the Proponent is.

[my5cents]

I'd like to clarify something that was implied once and stated a bit firmer the second time....

............................
The majority of the FF calls are medical; and they only treat the patient until the ambulance arrives; then the ambulance takes over and transports to the hospital if required and all the treatment that goes along with that.

.................................
If the majority of FF calls are to assist EHS and FF's do not transport patients, only stabilize and wait for EHS to arrive and take over to finish the call, why would EHS make less than a FF? If they are in charge of the call, they should earn as much or more, I would say.

The somewhat, subtle, (but not entirely) message here is that FF treat patients and the BC Ambulance transport after the FF have "stabilized" the patient.

That may not have been your intention but the message seemed to be that basically the BC Ambulance provides the horizontal transport for the patient after the FF have saved a life.

As for all the others, bickering about why BC Ambulance would want to exclude the BC Liberals from control over their contracts..... is there anyone out there who would like to negotiate a labor contract with Christy et al ??????

If you can't figure that out, perhaps ask a friend in a hospital or school.

Really shouldn't the ambulance unquestionably be contained in the Fire and Police Services Collective Bargaining Act ? Isn't that a no brainer. Will they get more money going that way. Your damn right they will. Do they get enough now ? NO bloody way they do.

I really don't know where people are coming from,, we have one saying the BC Ambulance Paramedics are "not even close" to the level of Police and Fire. Another calling the Ambulance Paramedics, "ambulance drivers".

Yup,,,, the FF, treats, stabilizes and get the patient ready for his/her ride to the hospital, THEN the ambulance arrives, the FF put them on the stretcher, then the ambulance "driver" drives to the hospital with the already stabilized patient, while the partner, sits in the back with the patient holding and patting their hand, giving words of encouragement.

As usual after about 3 pages these forums get totally out of control and off on a tangent.

If I was personally only apprised of two facts :

1. The Ambulance Paramedics have a petition for the public to sign
2. In the petition the Paramedics want public support for inclusion into the Fire and Police Services Collective Bargaining Act.

Without any other input other than having my eyes and ears open to what I have heard and read in the media, I'd conclude....

The Ambulance Paramedics got screwed just before the Olympics when they were in a dispute with the BC Liberal Government over their employement contract. Without reason (IMO) the government legislated them back to work and forced a contract on them.

The BC Liberal Government has done this many times to many unions.

I personally think it is or should be illegal for a government with the power to enact legislation, being in the position of employer, to use such power to resolve a contract issue with it's employees.

Then from personal knowledge, seeing the actions of Fire and Ambulance at non-fire emergency scenes. Fire fighters at those scenes are like the "helpful" teenage neighbor who really wants to help out, but other than brawn and enthusiasm hasn't much to offer. Great at lifting, holding and supporting,,, oh ya ! and sweeping the roadway, but when it comes to the real serious, technical, medical stuff, Ambulance Paramedics, hands down.

Come on, sign !

[pentona]

I'd like to clarify something that was implied once and stated a bit firmer the second time....

EHS does not always arrive 2nd; many times fire is last on scene or called off entirely. What I was getting at was that EHS completes the call; sometimes from start to finish, including transport. They deserve every bit as much compensation as Fire would. I believe EHS is mostly higher trained in medical procedures than Fire first responders are. I will definately be signing their petition. The BC Liberals have screwed them over long enough.

I would like to see them run from the fire houses, as they often do in the States. Same union; same bargaining, etc.

[gordon_as]

.

Come on, sign !

Come on (paramedics) , be a little more upfront about why you want me to sign and how it will affect YOUR bottom line.

[gordon_as]

https://www.castanet.net/news/BC/194145 ... tion-fails

[gordon_as]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Poll/1941 ... amedic-pay

Interesting poll topic , considering the Paramedics steadfastly maintained that it WASN'T about money.

[Even Steven]

Meh. It's always about money.

[MyPointofView]

You do realize these polls are completely non-scientific? The number of posters who spend time attacking the men and women who have chose to serve and protect others (police, fire, ambulance, military, search and rescue, and similar) in this and other threads is frankly, pathetic. It is not surprising, as it is obvious that theses haters have no clue as to the reason why the majority of individuals choose these occupations. It certainly is not just the wages. The saying "it is better to be thought of as a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt" is an appropriate response for many of these opinions. Attempting to explain to these doubters only enables them and in their mind validates the fact that they are right. We are defending something that does not need defending! Just saying......

[dle]

First off, I don't think the ambulance/paramedic service should ever be on strike, or unavailable in any way. In that regard this should never have had to go to a Petition in the first place - it shouldn't even be in question.

However, it did have to go to Petition and I've just read that their Petition failed. The very nature of a Petition is to get as many signatures as possible. These types of Petitions, to change something in government, require even more diligence in that they require a certain percentage of the population to sign them in order to even get their request off the ground.

When the article first came onto Castanet, there was a link to the paramedics/ambulance service giving information with a phone number that you could call if you wanted to sign the Petition and rather than going to find the signing station, their volunteers would bring the Petition to you.

I called that number as everyone in our office wanted to sign it - I spoke to someone who took my name and office address info. I also live in a huge condo complex and a lot of the people I spoke to also wanted to sign it. Some don't have transport and are a little older and really wanted someone to bring them the Petition to sign. No one ever showed up with the Petition. No one ever called to set up a time to come by with the Petition. We just assumed that there were so many people in their corner that they reached their signature goal and didn't need any more signatures.

This is like being ahead one goal in the hockey game and slacking off off because you think you have it in the bag - it ain't over til the buzzer goes and the wheels can come off at any time before that.
n
It's a shame that they weren't a little more organized because I think they would have reached their signature goal hands down.

[gordon_as]

You do realize these polls are completely non-scientific? The number of posters who spend time attacking the men and women who have chose to serve and protect others (police, fire, ambulance, military, search and rescue, and similar) in this and other threads is frankly, pathetic. It is not surprising, as it is obvious that theses haters have no clue as to the reason why the majority of individuals choose these occupations. It certainly is not just the wages. The saying "it is better to be thought of as a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt" is an appropriate response for many of these opinions. Attempting to explain to these doubters only enables them and in their mind validates the fact that they are right. We are defending something that does not need defending! Just saying......

Have you actually even read the thread ? I'm betting not.

[What_the]

If you're having heart attack, stroke or seriously injured. At that moment you hope they are.

Actually, I've been rushed in an ambulance to a hospital before. What's that have anything to do with their compensation?

Their job descriptions are vastly different. The skills required for the job are vastly different. Why would their pay be the same?

So why are firefighters being dispatched for health related calls?
Fire fighters fight fires.
Paramedics treat humans.

[my5cents]

So why are firefighters being dispatched for health related calls?
Fire fighters fight fires.
Paramedics treat humans.

So.....
Let's just look at facts
How many fire calls does the ambulance get dispatched to ? "You never know they might be needed"
How many ambulance calls does fire get dispatched to ?

Is this a sign that one of these agencies needs to prove they are busier than they really are ?

[MyPointofView]

You do realize these polls are completely non-scientific? The number of posters who spend time attacking the men and women who have chose to serve and protect others (police, fire, ambulance, military, search and rescue, and similar) in this and other threads is frankly, pathetic. It is not surprising, as it is obvious that theses haters have no clue as to the reason why the majority of individuals choose these occupations. It certainly is not just the wages. The saying "it is better to be thought of as a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt" is an appropriate response for many of these opinions. Attempting to explain to these doubters only enables them and in their mind validates the fact that they are right. We are defending something that does not need defending! Just saying......

Have you actually even read the thread ? I'm betting not.

As a matter of fact I have: you cannot have an intelligent debate with someone who has a closed mind and will not consider the fact that they may simply be wrong. We shall have to agree to disagree as to the "dastardly motives" of the paramedics regarding this petition. There are much more important issues to debate in much more productive venues.

Peace out.

[Even Steven]

So why are firefighters being dispatched for health related calls?
Fire fighters fight fires.

Actually, you're wrong. And it's not fire-fighters, it's rescue workers. They specialize in all kids of things, and are able to provide first aid as well.

[my5cents]

Actually, you're wrong. And it's not fire-fighters, it's rescue workers. They specialize in all kids of things, and are able to provide first aid as well.

What_the wrote: So why are fire fighters being dispatched for health related calls ?
Fire fighters fight fires.

Even Steven replies: "....it's not fire-fighters, it's rescue workers. They specialize in all ki(n)ds of things, and are able to provide first aid as well"

What the heck does that mean, Steven ?

These people who arrive in a big red truck with hoses and ladders are "rescue workers" ? No, they are fire fighters attending a medical call, yes they may have some first aid training, so does every cop.

It's just that the cops aren't sitting around the "police hall" figuring out who's going to cook dinner and what to watch on TV. Hoping they get enough sleep overnight so they can go build houses in the morning.

I'll answer "What_the's" question. The reason they are being dispatched for health related calls is to accrue call stats.

Don't get me wrong there are times they are valuable at non-fire calls, but when needed they could be called out to those particular calls. Jaws of life, heavy lifting, washing and sweeping debris from streets. Even administering basic first aid until the professionals arrive.

The BC Ambulance Service has been a thorn in the side of the Liberal government since they took over power. It's costly to run an ambulance service, if run properly and fully financed the government doesn't reap much in the way of benefits because that's the way it should run.

The BC Ambulance staffing levels are low, the government promotes BC Ambulance management to use as many call out and part time staff as possible.

As the public, what do we do when there are horror stories about call delays with the BC Ambulance Service, we criticize the ambulance service.

When the number of students in public school classrooms was too high, did we rag on teachers ? No, we understood it was the governments firm grip on all "their" money. (as an aside, where the heck did all the extra money come from for all the goodies we've received in the last few months before this election ????)

What is it about emergency services ? Some think "ambulance, fire, who cares who comes to help, they both arrive with red lights and sirens". Do you use the same logic when water starts leaking from your hot water tank ? "Plumber, electrician, they're all the same, they have a service truck and tools".

Both services are highly trained in their own field.

I think it's disgraceful how the Liberal have and are treating a fine ambulance service.

Police and fire are essential services and ambulance paramedics aren't ?

To those who "accuse" the ambulance paramedics for being concerned about wages. Yes, of course !!!!!!!!!!!!

Want to save lots of money ? Years ago ambulances were run by the local mortuary. I wouldn't doubt the reason back then that ambulances were the same model of Cadillac (only white) as the hearses were because they were all owned by the same parent company. Talk about a conflict of interest, screw up the ambulance call, you get to transport the body around for the funeral in your hearse.

Anyone who thinks the level of care one receives from a fire crew matches that of an ambulance crew, is very wrong.