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Ambulance staffing a crisis: QC mayor Kulesha

The ambulance service in Queen Charlotte is suffering such a staffing shortage that for the month of October, it has 34 of its two daily shifts unfilled, with five more shifts staffed with only one paramedic, said Mayor Carol Kulesha at Monday's council meeting."This is pretty much a crisis for Queen Charlotte, this means we're always trying to use (the ambulance from) Port Clements, or Masset, or SandspitÂ…which leaves the other communities without anyone," she said. She described the BC Ambulance service as the biggest issue facing rural, remote, communities right now.Mayor Kulesha told council that she sent a letter to Terry Lake, Minister of Health, to inform him of the situation, saying in part, "the ambulance service needs your attention to develop a different strategy to address the rural paramedic crisis."Councillors thanked Mayor Kulesha for quickly addressing the issue.