Dear Editor: Regarding your Aug. 21 story, Union Backs Call for 2nd WV Ambulance: In December 2012, an 87-year-old woman in Toronto died after waiting three hours for an ambulance to come to her aid. She reported abdominal pains, and the ambulance had been re-routed three times "due to limited resources."
Seniors and all families in West Vancouver are subject to exactly the same risk given the government of British Columbia's understaffing of our ambulance service. One ambulance may have been enough for a younger, smaller population. One ambulance simply won't cut it today.
Our firefighters, heroic as they are, are prohibited by the province's regulations from
basic interventions including administering insulin injections. Additionally, West Vancouver fire trucks are often reassigned out of the district and unavailable to serve us.
During the provincial election, standing as the independent candidate for West Vancouver-Capilano, I pushed our incumbent MLA and all of the candidates to make the ambulance and first-responder services in our community a central concern.
It is time for Ralph Sultan, now returned as our MLA, to show his mettle and integrity in championing the needs of our community. He must secure for us the ambulance services we need, so that no one will suffer the appalling fate of the gentle lady in Toronto.
Michael Markwick
West Vancouver
