WHEREAS the number of first responder or medical emergency service alarm MESA calls that the City of Langley responds to represents 78 percent of all calls received by the Langley City Fire Rescue Service LCFRS; AND WHEREAS the City of Langley incur significant direct costs as a result of responding to MESA calls to compliment the services provided by BC Ambulance Service BCAS; AND WHEREAS the intermediate patient care can greatly enhance patient outcomes and significantly reduce short term and long term costs to the overall health care system and the City of Langley acknowledges the community will benefit from the LCFRS supporting BCAS to provide first responder services to the patient while the ambulance is en-route: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province of BC work with UBCM to develop a fair and equitable cost recovery model to compensate local governments for responding to medical first responder calls.
Ministry of Health Government values the role that first responders play in pre-hospital care and recognizes the importance to taxpayers that we use our emergency response resources appropriately, whether it is in local or provincial government. Participation in the First Responder program is voluntary. Some municipalities have chosen to have first responders continue to attend both urgent and routine non-emergency calls, but others have elected to have first responders attend only urgent calls where a patients condition will benefit from initial care. BC Emergency Health Services has been actively reaching out to concerned municipalities over the last several months and will continue to consult with local governments and first responders throughout the Province about the changes to the Resource Allocation Plan. Additionally, BC Emergency Health Services has several working groups in place that were created to help resolve concerns that may arise for first responders with respect to the services they provide. They also provide reimbursement for initial training costs for new first responder agencies, as well as reimbursement for all medical supplies for first responder agencies serving small communities under 25,000.