Community: A Maple Ridge family seeks support and hope. 3
Sports: Big role for SFU’s Smith. 29
Business: Christmas season a boon. 9 Fr i d ay, J a n u a r y 1 5, 2 016 ¡ mapleridgenews.com ¡ est. 1978 ¡ (office) 604-467-1122 ¡ (del iver y) 6 0 4 - 4 6 6 - 6 3 9 7
Street named after Bob Shantz First such designation in more than a decade By P hi l M e lnychu k pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Mark Vosper (left), of the Ridge Meadows Hospice Society, wrote a letter to Kevin Nosworthy, seeking support to have a street named after Bob Shantz.
He gave his time and talent, volunteering hundreds of hours for community projects, and now a street sign will ensure that Bob Shantz will not be forgotten for that contribution. Shantz, a high-profile lawyer and community volunteer and leader, died last August after an operation for an aneurism. He was a founding member of the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation and organized the Rotary Duck Race for the last four years. His friend, Kevin Nosworthy, led the effort to have a street named in Shantz’s honour. See Shantz, 13
Ambulance need unmet since ’96 Coroner called for improved service By Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
A
coroner called for improved paramedic services in Maple Ridge 20 years ago, after a toddler died in a local deli. Matt Kelso started a petition last month for more ambulance service in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
The
Hayes Team Matthew • Paul • Peter
604-467-0811 www.thehayesteam.ca
Since, a paramedic handed him the coroner’s report about the death of two-year-old Amanda Fletcher in December 1996. The little girl choked on a free sausage sample, and her mother and another customer’s attempts to dislodge it were not successful. They called 9-1-1. Both of Maple Ridge’s ambulances were at Ridge Meadows Hospital, waiting with patients, and the standard practice of having their radios turned off meant they did not hear the call.
An ambulance was dispatched from Coquitlam. The call came in as Code 3 and paramedics arrived within 13 minutes. Kelso notes the response was “astonishingly fast� given the distance. But there were three other ambulances just two minutes away – another ambulance from Port Coquitlam was at 224th Street and Selkirk Avenue, responding to a call of a cyclist hit by a car. But none were deemed available. Two were held up at hospital,
which remains a problem today. “It’s sad to see that, after 20 years, little has changed,� said Kelso. The healthy, normal toddler died in B.C. Children’s Hospital, the cause listed as asphyxia due to choking. According to the coroner’s report, paramedics on scene used forceps to remove the sausage, were able to restore a heartbeat, and she was taken to the emergency room at Ridge Meadows Hospital. See Ambulance, 14
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Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows have just two ambulances.
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