B.C. Emergency Health Services continues to face a shortage of paramedics, resulting in some ambulances being unstaffed or having to be pulled from small communities to cover other areas.
B.C.’s ambulance service is sweetening the pot to lure experienced paramedics to understaffed rural communities with cash bonuses and paid expenses.
The ambulance service says it’s engaged in an intense recruitment drive to increase its ranks. It is also offering a $100-per-day bonus to paramedics in well-staffed areas who are willing to work between two and four weeks in rural communities. Their travel, accommodation and meal expenses would also be covered.
Sara Kendall, a B.C. paramedic and medical doctor currently completing her family practice residency in the U.S., said the key to addressing the paramedic shortage is removing barriers to entering the profession. The full-time program is offered in Victoria, New Westminster, Chilliwack and Kelowna and in intervals at some post-secondary institutions, such as North Island College in Port Alberni and Campbell River, and College of New Caledonia in Prince George.
Some students are eligible for bursaries through the province’s Emergency Medical Assistants Education Fund. In 2020-21, the fund supported 40 students in rural and remote areas and 20 paramedics completing the advanced care program, according to the Ministry of Advanced Education.
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