Rumours circulating in the community of a lack of ambulance coverage for the long weekend are not as dire as first thought.
Due to staffing issues, it was originally thought there wouldn't be an ambulance in Gibsons tomorrow (Saturday) or one in Sechelt May 23. While there won't be a second staffed car in either area, Richard Chick, superintendent of ambulance services for the Sunshine Coast and Sea to Sky, said there will be one staffed car in both places.
Chick said, depending on the situation, there are usually two staffed ambulances in Gibsons and two or three staffed ambulances in Sechelt. He said there are a number of reasons why up until now there has not been staff available for those shifts, but added that doesn't mean staffing levels won't change before the weekend.
Acting Gibsons shop steward Charlie Greenway said part of the problem with ambulance services' staff retention and recruitment is wages. He said, as far as he knows, both those days will have full-time day crew on shift, but there is no night crew scheduled. "Maybe they'll fill those shifts by then," he said.
Greenway said when an ambulance attendant is on a call, depending on seniority, they are paid between $19 to $25 for the call. However, while they aren't out on a call but are either pulling pager duty or are on call, ambulance attendants are paid between $2 to $10 an hour.
Greenway said that with the cost of living on the Coast, it is becoming increasingly harder to commit hours to what essentially boils down to a paid volunteer position over time dedicated to higher paying employment.
Mary Jean Wells, an ambulance attendant in Gibsons, said, in her opinion as a part-time employee, the low wage combined with the lack of full-time employment and the lack of benefits make it increasingly difficult for people to commit to shifts above the mandatory eight shifts a month to maintain their status with the union and their seniority. She said many people have to take second jobs to make a livable wage.
Greenway said, of course, there are holes in the schedules, "but who's crazy enough to go into a 14-week, $6,000 training program for $10 an hour with no guarantees."
Chick said unit chiefs do a great job of scheduling, but from time to time there will undoubtedly be gaps in coverage. He said during the past few months he's heard grumblings from part-time attendants and gets the sense they aren't happy with management or with their union because they feel a little sidelined by both sides and don't feel valued. That isn't the case as he sees it. Chick said all ambulance attendants are extremely valued for what they do, adding it's going to be up to management and the union to come together to talk about these issues before the union contract expires at the end of 2009.
