Community

Working Together
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF
OUTER ISLANDS
EMERGENCY RESPONDERS
Story and photos by ANNA HERLITZ

I’m suddenly awoken by the insistent alarm

of my ambulance pager; beep-beep-beep-beep-
beep-beep, “Fourteen Kilo, Code 3 call coming in,
contact dispatch.”
I’m now already out of bed, have grabbed my pager out of its
charging base, and am speed-dialling the BC Ambulance Service (BCAS)
911 Ambulance Dispatch Centre in Langford as I quickly get into my
paramedic uniform.
The BCAS dispatcher greets me with her calm voice and gives as
much detail as she has received so far: “Code 3 fall and possible stroke
on Pirates Road, 68-year-old female.” Most often we paramedics here
on Pender Island are dispatched while the call is still coming in to 911
and we receive more details once we are in the ambulance.
I quickly put on my watch and note that it is 2:25 a.m. as I am
heading out the door to drive the four minutes it takes me to get to
the ambulance station. During the short drive I clear my head, mentally
prepare for the call and remind myself whether there is a physician
on-call on Pender today, or not, during clinic off-hours. If not, we
must request off-island transport as soon as possible if we find that our
patient needs further medical care, either by water taxi if the condition
is stable or by helicopter if more critical.
I am glad to know that a number of first responder volunteers from
Pender Island Fire Rescue (PIFR) are also responding, having been
paged out from their homes by the Capital Regional District Fire
Dispatch Centre (also in Langford), getting into their coveralls and
hurrying to their closest fire hall to respond.
At least one fire rescue crew will likely get to the person in need
before we arrive with the ambulance. I appreciate that the PIFR
First Responders (FRs) will not only locate the address,
which may be dark and unmarked, but will also assess
for best access and egress for the ambulance, make
contact with and comfort the patient, and may
also perform basic critical interventions and Medic One ambulance boat leaves
give oxygen as needed. Thieves Bay on North Pender Island.

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 31

 “Code 3 fall
and possible stroke
on Pirates Road,
68-year-old female.”

I arrive at our dark ambulance station and say a quick hello to

my partner for this night shift, who also just pulled up, as we do
a brief safety check of the ambulance. Our computer screen in the
ambulance provides us with further details, including the exact
address. The bay door opens, we pull out and are on our way,
with lights and sirens on, rushing through the night, watching
for unpredictable deer that might appear without warning in the
beams of our headlights.
From a distance we see the red Fire Rescue vehicle with lights
flashing in front of the address. We are directed into a dark and
narrow driveway by FRs who advise that it is long and steep, but
there is just enough room for us to turn the ambulance around at
the end, near the house. I am thankful there is no need to back
up all that distance in the dark. The FRs also report that two re-
sponders are now in the house with the patient who is awake and
complains of wrist pain. We drive up, head in the front door with
our equipment, introduce ourselves and enquire what happened.
The FR kneeling by the patient and supporting her wrist tells
us, “Hi, this is Marjorie, she fell down a couple of stairs and
landed on her right wrist. She says she does not have neck pain
and does not believe she lost consciousness. We found her sitting
here on the floor.”
Another FR is gently but firmly holding her head until we do
a further assessment for possible spinal injury and determine that
full spinal immobilization is not required. Marjorie tells us that
she had gotten out of bed just to use the washroom, but felt light-
headed before she stumbled and fell.
As my paramedic partner and I continue our more detailed
assessment, we consider the need for a helicopter with a BCAS
critical care paramedic crew from Vancouver, knowing that, when
available, they can be at our Pender Island helipad just about 15
From top: BCAS critical care paramedic crew helicopter at Pender
minutes after we request them. Remarkably, these BCAS flight
Island helipad; four of the eight Pender Island resident paramedics,
crews bring with them the advanced skills, knowledge and equip- from left, Kathryn Eagleheart, Elise Dri, Jason Dryer, Daisy te
ment to treat any patient requiring critical emergency care, and Hennepe, returning to Pender after a multi-agency training day on
can rapidly transport them to definitive care in a hospital. mass casualty incident management on Salt Spring Island, travelling
We do a rapid but thorough assessment of our patient for any by Gulf Islands Water Taxi; PIFR firefighters/first responders, from
signs of a stroke, using the acronym “F.A.S.T.”; checking for Facial left, Lt. Jon Grelik, Firefighter Todd Bulled and Capt. Adrian Hanson.

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 33


Above: From left, Pender Island Fire Rescue Firefighter Blair Higgs
and PIFR Fire Chief Charlie Boyte.
Below right: Paramedic Unit Chief Jason Dryer prepares a stretcher
on the dock at Thieves Bay with the Medic One ambulance boat
set to transport a patient.
droop, Arm weakness, Speech problems and Time of onset of any
such symptoms. Marjorie does not display any of these symptoms
but we find that her blood pressure is at the lower end of normal
range, which could explain her feeling of lightheadedness when
she got up from her bed. We also check her blood sugar level and
temperature, which both turn out to be normal.
Unfortunately there is no doctor available on Pender tonight, as
is the case about half of the time on weekends and nights here. We
Pender residents are somewhat more fortunate in this regard than
Galiano, Mayne and Saturna islands, where doctor availability can be
more limited during off-hours.
Having determined that Marjorie’s condition is now stable, and
having found through our physical exam that she has signs of a wrist
fracture with significant pain, we decide that it is time to request the
BCAS Medic One water taxi. It generally takes about 40 minutes for
the dedicated Gulf Islands Water Taxi “ambulance boat” Medic One
to arrive at Thieves Bay, Pender Island, with a paramedic crew from
Sidney.
Now we get to turn our attention to Marjorie’s injured wrist again.
To avoid further injury and pain we apply a cold pack and a splint.
We also offer Entonox, a nitrous oxide and oxygen analgesic gas mix
to help ease the pain, which Marjorie appreciatively accepts and gets
to self-administer as needed. While we are getting ready to trans-
port, Marjorie smiles at us, says she already feels better with us just
being there and tells us, “We are so lucky to have people like you in
an emergency. I am very grateful! Thank you!”
In 911 medical emergencies, the residents of Pender, Galiano and
Mayne islands are served by BCAS paid-on-call paramedics, often
in conjunction with firefighters/first responders from volunteer fire
departments. Saturna Island, having a smaller population, relies on
its two fully volunteer-operated fire rescue and emergency medical
organizations to respond. All four islands have access to BCAS water
taxi and helicopter service as well. Considering the dedication of the
paramedic crews, Pender Islands’ BCAS paramedic unit chief Jason
Dryer states that “Our skilled paramedics here on Pender maintain
Page 34 – AQUA – March/April 2018
their professional certifications through continuing education, yet
most also hold other jobs to make a living. Many are also parents and
have to be able to drop everything to respond the moment a 911 call
comes in.”
Just like it takes a village to raise a child, here in the Southern Gulf
Islands it takes a variety of dedicated community members coming
together when someone calls 911. An accident can happen so quickly,
and be unplanned and unexpected. The remarkable part is how all
the pieces come together in our 911 response system, with many
individuals near and far fulfilling a role to make a seamless effort at
the drop of a hat, at any time of day or night, to assist those in need.
This coming together happens even here, or perhaps especially here,
in the Outer Gulf Islands, where we are considered to be “remote”
and often don’t have easy access to care and services. A diverse com-
bination of trained, dedicated volunteers and part-time or full-time
staff from various agencies as well as helpful family members, neigh-
bours and bystanders join forces to make this response happen.
Reflecting on first responder volunteerism, Pender Islands Fire
Rescue Chief Charlie Boyte comments: “My experience over the
years has made me very cognizant of the broader value of our
volunteer emergency response organizations and how they impact
our citizens from our very youngest to our oldest residents. They
contribute to the social capital in our community by bonding and
bridging community members and open amazing opportunities to
link socioeconomic groups through shared values. The social capital
created enables our community members to trust each other and
work together to achieve great things.”
At Thieves Bay we give a brief report to the arriving BCAS para-
medic crew and hand over care of our patient. All together we lift
the patient, now wrapped in blankets, onto the Medic One water
taxi using a light stretcher. We see them off, and as we head back to
the station, my partner expresses her sense of what a privilege it is
to be able to help and give comfort to someone during their most
difficult moments. I couldn’t agree more.
Anna Herlitz is a part-time paramedic with BC Ambulance
Service on Pender Island and also a firefighter/first responder
and a first responder instructor with Pender Islands
Fire Rescue, as well as serving as the Pender Islands
school trustee on the SD64 Gulf Islands Board of Education.