Members of the first paramedic response team to arrive in Williams Lake in mid-January as the number of COVID-19 cases began to climb. (BCEHS photo)

Paramedic rapid response team kept busy while deployed to Williams Lake

An advanced care paramedic will remain in the community until Friday, Jan. 29

A BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) confirmed the Rapid Response Team that arrived in Williams Lake on Jan. 16 for a six-day deployment responded to several high-level medical emergencies in the community.

“Paramedic crews came to the community to support existing paramedics in both the transport of patients to higher levels of care and 9-1-1 medical responses,” said Shannon Miller, BCEHS media spokesperson Wednesday, noting they even attended a maternity call where a baby was born in a vehicle.

Read more: B.C.’s rapid response paramedics deployed to Williams Lake as COVID-19 cases climb

The team worked closely with Williams Lake Paramedic Station 348, Cariboo Memorial Hospital staff and the High Acuity Response Team (HART) at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops and reported they felt tremendous appreciation for everyone they worked with and encountered in the community, Miller told the Tribune Thursday.

Following the deployment of the team, an advanced care paramedic (ACP) from the Lower Mainland has been stationed in the community for continued support and expected to stay until Friday, Jan. 29.

As an extra resource in the community, the ACP supports existing paramedic crews.

“The ACP is paired with a local primary care paramedic operating out of an additional ambulance resource in the community, responding to 9-1-1 medical emergencies, on a day shift of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m,” Miller said.

This was the second time BCEHS has deployed this specialized paramedic team as part of its pandemic response efforts. The first time was to Fort St. James.

Read more: B.C.’s rapid response paramedics arrive in Fort St. James as district reaches 60 COVID-19 cases


news@wltribune.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

Williams Lake Tribune