Maple Ridge News, January 28, 2015

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Transportation: Commuters ers are not paying bridge tolls. 3

Spo Knezevic rink Sports: wins Scotties. 18

Arts: Body of water to music. 16 We d n es d ay, Ja n u a r y 28, 2015 · mapleridgenews.com · est. 1978 · (office) 604-467-1122 · (de live r y ) 60 4- 4 66 - 63 97

Youth safe house still on life support $30,000 in donations keeps it running for now By P hi l M e lnychu k pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com

Thanks to the kindness of strangers who opened their wallets, the Iron Horse Youth Safe House stayed open Christmas and New Year’s Eve and all of January, when it was important to give kids a place to go at one of the toughest times of the year. Good thing it did, too, because the shelter was full, and remains that way, with all of its five beds occupied. But with less than a week of funding left to operate as 24-hour emergency shelter, change is coming to the Iron Horse. Alouette Home Start Society executive-director Stephanie Ediger said talks continue with the provincial government for interim money to allow the Iron Horse to keep running as a shelter.

Olympians Caity Bossons (left) and Dawnn Puhl, Grade 7 students at Whonnock elementary, use a laser to deflect the direction of light during the Science Olympics at Garibaldi secondary on Monday. Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS

See Safe house, 5

‘Ambulances take too long’ 30-minute response when wife had stroke By Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com

THE NEWS/files

A former firefighter is advocating for better ambulance service.

Bob McKee spent an agonizing half hour with his wife after she suffered a stroke, waiting for an ambulance to arrive at their house in Pitt Meadows. Now the former firefighter is add-

ing his voice to those calling out the provincial government for underfunding the B.C. Ambulance service. McKee was a firefighter for 31 years and was trained to recognize the signs of stroke. His wife Vicki would not wake up on Jan. 12. She seemed confused, her speech was slurred, and her face was drooping. She was terminally ill with cancer, with blood clots in her arms and neck. He called 911.

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After seven or eight minutes, firefighters from Pitt Meadows arrived on the scene, but they needed an ambulance to transport her to Ridge Meadows Hospital. One finally arrived after 30 to 32 minutes, said McKee. He followed the paramedics to the local hospital in his vehicle and asked them about the long response time. They told him they had come from Delta. “They were really good, very pro-

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fessional,” said McKee, “but they were the only car available on either side of the river.” Vicki passed away last Wednesday. On Saturday, thinking about their experiences, her husband decided to speak up for better ambulance service. He believes the provincial government has cut it too much. “I feel sorry for those people with no first-aid training, and having their loved one laying there,” he said. See Ambulances, 3

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