Patchwork emerges in B.C. fire response to medical calls

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When the siren sounds in B.C., the response is no longer the same everywhere.

Some fire departments are scaling back medical calls, saying the workload has become unsustainable. Others still treat them as central to the job. The result is a patchwork of approaches, shaped more by local councils than provincial direction.

In Port Alberni, Fire Chief Mike Owens told council medical calls had risen 120 per cent in recent years, driven mainly by overdoses. “All of it adds one more straw on the camel’s back,” he said.

Council responded by limiting firefighters to the most urgent calls — “Red” or “Purple” under B.C. Emergency Health Services — and rescues with paramedics. Other communities have followed. Vernon council voted to restrict crews to life-threate