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Post by Scott on Feb 20, 2006 22:42:51 GMT -8
I heard this discussed on the radio a few months back but forgot to bring it up then. I'd be interested in what people think. The following is a hypothetical scenario..
What if one of your parents who live in Port Alberni had a serious heart attack at 10pm at night. You found out at 10:30pm. How could someone get anywhere on the Island (especially north of Victoria) before 7:30 am in the morning at short notice?
The person on the radio was talking about how there should maybe be a ferry going all night for such circumstances.
What do you guys think?
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Post by Quinsam on Feb 20, 2006 22:44:47 GMT -8
Yes, but then BCF will need more crew, which means more money going to employees, instead of the new vessels.
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Post by Ferryman on Feb 20, 2006 22:59:20 GMT -8
Hmm, hard to say on that one..
I would think they should consider having a vessel on either end on Standby, but not making regular round trips. But if one were to use that service, I'm sure BCF would make them pay through the nose if they needed to get across. But how can you predict how often that would happen, for it to not make them lose money over it. It would be pretty strange if someone had to do that, and then they got on to the Queen of Oak Bay, and went across with full crew and everything at 2 in the morning. So if they were to do that, it would be a very limited service, so there wouldn't be any cafeteria or anything. Probably just enough crew to make the ferry operate, that's it. But then again, depending on when the ferry left, it could cause delays in the morning because of it when normal service resumes. It's too long of a route to have that option available, and I would just hope to get on the 10:45 Ferry, or the 5:15am.
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Post by NMcKay on Feb 20, 2006 23:05:57 GMT -8
they have had it happen in the past. and the way they do it is one of 3 ways.
1) They have the local port authority shuttle the paramedics near to pick the person up and bring them to a waiting ambulance nearest to a highway (like they do on Gabe and Protection Island)
2) they Call a helicopter from helijet or some other firm to pick the person up and airlift to the nearest hospital
3) they charter a local shipping company to pick the people up and bring them to the nearest highway
each option depends on things like: How severe the injury, the time, the weather, the cost of shipping, how remote of a location etc etc.
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Post by Starbucks Queen on Feb 25, 2006 9:36:54 GMT -8
I mean - do you not have helicopter-paramedics "up there" ? This is, what I would think, would be the most likely way of rescue for a person who had suffered from a stroke or heart-attack. I doubt a ferry would be the adequate way of transport - not just because of the slow speed but also they aren´t equipped for emergencies like that.
Of course, I talk here about European standards - if you REALLY would have a problem to get a paramedic-helicopter to that region that I´m saying "poor Canada" here.
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Post by Mike C on Feb 25, 2006 10:02:51 GMT -8
Well this is sad, as I have a summer cabin in Little River, near CFB Comox and we have a lot of Paremedic Helicopters there.
This brings me to a story (moans of pain and screams of agony) where my uncle broke his leg in an ATV accident in a remote place in the Interior, in the Kamloops area. It took the ambulance 5 hours to get to him.
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Post by Ferryman on Feb 25, 2006 10:18:42 GMT -8
Well when I lived on the Island, I had an accident at School that was life threatening, and the Hospital in the town I lived in could not support me. So the Hospital tried to get me over to Childrens Hospital in Vancouver Immediately. One problem, No Helicopter on standby. There was a Helicopter, but it just wasn't on standby. So we may as well of taken the Ferry, because to get to Victoria General, it normally took over an hour to get to. But they rushed me in an ambulance down there anyway. Once I got down there, they Doctors rushed to save my life, and well, here I am telling you guys this. Health Care isn't the greatest in this Province as more and more hospitals are being tranformed into health centers or simply being closed down, and there are only 7 Hospitals on the Island I think. Royal Jubilee, Victoria General, Duncan, Nanaimo, Courtney, Port Alberni, and Campbell River. But people who are in critical condition, get rushed over to the Mainland. The same goes for the rest of BC, everything revolves around Vancouver pretty much.
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Post by Dane on Feb 25, 2006 18:12:42 GMT -8
Ambulance service should be sufficient on most parts of the island, I used to have old family mbrs there and thats how they had to get around. Nanaimo and Victoria can handle just about anything, and Children's Hospital isn't really a necessity but it's a damn good thing too have, too.
If it's REALLY bad, technically, CFB Comox would supply air shuttle service with the Cormarants, it's in the National Defence Act.
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