Creston is one of only two towns in the B.C. Interior selected to be a prototype community for the province’s first Community Paramedicine Initiative (CPI).
Community paramedicine, according to an announcement by BC Emergency Health Services and the Interior Health Authority (IHA), “is a new addition to the primary care team that will, in rural communities, strengthen the primary care system.”
A key objective of the program is to ensure a competent, sustainable paramedic presence to respond to medical emergencies. By providing new or full- or part-time careers in rural and remote stations, communities will receive better paramedic coverage.
The CPI is designed to work with local health care providers to bridge identified gaps and to build on the existing skill sets of primary and advanced care paramedics.
As the program eventually spreads throughout the province in the next four years, at least 80 new full-time equivalents will be hired to bolster services in rural and remote communities. During the initial phase, paramedic unit chiefs will work directly with the IHA and local health care providers to define the scope of services required and participate in the development of a local service plan. The experience gained from the first phase will help the initiative expand into other B.C. communities in coming years.
“This is good news for the Creston Valley,” said Creston Mayor Ron Toyota. “The Creston Valley Health Working Group has expanded its own mandate to recruit health care professionals other than physicians. Now, the Community Paramedicine Initiative will provide an increased focus on primary health care. An ambulance at the door or at an accident scene is a vital connection between a patient and our health care system, and it is a service that cannot be overvalued.”
