Hawks duo honoured
Graduation day for guide dogs page 21
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Tuesday May 13, 2014
Serving Surrey and North Delta www.surreyleader.com
Review backs B.C.’s ambulance priority shift
Taxpayers on the hook for police overtime at summit Residents foot part of the bill for yearly Surrey Regional Economic Summit
Paramedics’ union says cost control is behind the new policy by Jeff Nagel
by Kevin Diakiw
AN EXTERNAL review has endorsed B.C.’s contentious reallocation
SURREY TAXPAYERS spent more than $30,000 in police overtime costs and tickets for city staff at this year’s Surrey Regional Economic Summit. Surrey’s sixth-annual summit – held on Feb. 18 –included former prime ministers Julia Gillard (Australia), George Papandreou (Greece) and Ehud Barak (Israel). Surrey has long said the cost of speakers at the yearly event is completely covered through ticket sales and sponsorships. The city won’t disclose the cost of the speakers, nor the amount received by way Linda Hepner of sponsorships or ticket sales, citing that those things are within the control of the Pace Group, which organizes the event. However, taxpayers did cover the cost of police overtime for this year’s event, a figure that reached $24,300. There was an additional $5,600 in officer amenities, such as food, portable toilets, etc.
of ambulance service in favour of the most urgent cases. Lower Mainland cities, fire departments and their unions have denounced the changes introduced in November, saying dozens of categories of calls have been downgraded to slower responses, resulting in extreme waits of more than an hour in some cases. Ambulances now head to many of the downgraded calls without the lights and sirens they used in the past, a change that’s expected to reduce the risk of crashes with other motorists. B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) contends the longer waits have averaged just 10 minutes slower in the Lower Mainland, but have enabled slightly faster ambulance responses to critical emergencies where extra seconds can save lives. The report by Alan Craig, the retired deputy chief of Toronto Emergency Services, says the BCEHS Resource Allocation Plan takes a “careful and prudent approach” based on actual medical evidence that matches global best practices and is “superior” to the priority Len Garis systems used in many major jurisdictions. It agrees the lights-and-siren response carries serious risk to both paramedics and the public and should be limited to just the most urgent incidents. It also says the public needs to better understand that very few patients from 911 calls need to be rushed to hospital.
“I’m concerned for the public...”
See UNION / Page 4
Acing acrodance
BOAZ JOSEPH / THE LEADER
Zoe Gilbert of Artistic Edge Dance Academy (Surrey) performs in the solo acrodance category (13-15 years) on the final weekend of the month-long Surrey Festival of Dance. The festival concluded with the No Borders Dance Challenge and awards show on May 10 at the Surrey Arts Centre.
Editorial 6 Letters 7 Sports 19 Life 21 Classifieds 24
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