Two ambulances staffed for Kamloops tonight

It's not only a shortage of nurses and doctors affecting healthcare in Kamloops. It appears the B.C. Ambulance Service was down to one ambulance for the entire city tonight, June 7, but the service managed to bring in paramedics at the expense of smaller communities nearby.

Accusations arose on social media earlier today that the ambulance service had only one paramedic scheduled in Kamloops on Tuesday night, June 7. 

B.C. Emergency Health Services did not confirm whether this was true, but in response to questions about the concern, it said there will be two staffed ambulances in Kamloops.

READ MORE: IHA blames Kamloops understaffing on COVID, but nurses, MLAs say roots go deeper

The ambulance service did not respond when asked how many paramedics it would typically staff in Kamloops.

In an emailed response, the ambulance service also told iNFOnews.ca that it has a "strong system" in place that finds staff from surrounding stations. Interior Health Authority has used a similar strategy by calling out for staff across the region when faced with an immediate shortage.

One paramedic told iNFOnews.ca that it's common for the ambulance service to pull paramedics from smaller communities to fill open shifts in larger centres like Kamloops.

READ MORE: Access to healthcare in Kamloops a barrier to potential new residents

"We are making every effort to recruit for open positions, both through local engagement in communities across the province and through our nationwide recruitment campaign," the emailed response from an ambulance service spokesperson reads.

It continued to say it added "hundreds" of new paramedic positions over the last year.

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