Critical Care Paramedic Team Now Based in Fraser Valley

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Client:Service Development
Date:April 13, 2012

​Starting today, a ground-based critical care paramedic team will begin operating from a new base in Langley.

The BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) Critical Care Transport (CCT) Program provides specialized, pre-hospital and inter-facility treatment and transport for critically ill or injured patients across the province.

The new unit will primarily transport patients with life-threatening conditions who require constant monitoring and support from hospitals in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Langley to major medical centers throughout the Lower Mainland. Most of their calls will be transporting patients to a higher level of care, but when they are not assigned to a critical care transport, they will be available to respond to pre-hospital 911 calls.

“When we reviewed the types of calls that paramedics in the Fraser Valley were doing, we found that more and more of their work was transferring patients to higher levels of care outside the local area,” said BCAS Chief Operating Officer Les Fisher. “Adding a dedicated critical care paramedic team in the Fraser Valley will enable us to provide this specialized service in a more consistent manner and allow the local crews to be more available in their primary response areas.”

The new critical care paramedic (CCP) team will work 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. seven days per week. Calls requiring critical care transport services outside of these hours will be responded to by one of the CCP teams based at the Vancouver airport, either by ground or air ambulance helicopter.

“This new base enables our specialized critical care paramedics to expand their services and do what they do best –treat and transport the sickest and most critically-injured patients to higher levels of care,” said BCAS CCT Unit Chief Robert Wand.

In 2010/11, BCAS’s CCT Program transported more than 7,864 patients: 5,342 adults and 2,525 paediatric, neo-natal and high-risk obstetrical patients.

For More Information
News Release: Critical Care Paramedic Team Now Based in Fraser Valley