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home / 世界杯决赛2022

vancouver heat meant getting an ambulance could take 6 hours

first responders faced 'incredible crisis' over peak temperature spike

by the national post

jun 30 2021
read time 3 minute read
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vancouver heat meant getting an ambulance could take 6 hours
a resident transports an air conditioner on west pender street during the heat wave. trevor hagan / bloomberg
by: shari kulha
police say the sweltering heat wave over western canada is believed to have been a contributing factor in dozens of sudden-death calls they have responded to in metro vancouver.

“we’re experiencing probably the busiest 48 hours we’ve had on record,” vancouver fire rescue services assistant chief ken gemmill told the vancouver is awesome (via) website tuesday. vfrs said it had a three-fold increase in call volume in the early part of the week, and in one case, firefighters waited 11 hours for an ambulance crew to arrive and transport an elderly person suffering heat exhaustion to the hospital.

while that length of a wait is on the extreme end, on many other calls firefighters waited for an ambulance for over six hours, gemmill told via.
the waits have been so trying on people, he said, that many have showed up at fire stations across vancouver begging for first responders to attend to their loved ones.
temperatures in the vancouver area reached just under 32 c monday, but the humidity made it feel close to 40 c in areas that aren’t near water, environment canada said.
“it’s warmer in parts of western canada than in dubai. i mean, it’s just not something that seems canadian,” senior climatologist david phillips told ctv news on saturday.
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by mid-afternoon tuesday, vancouver police sgt. steve addison said, the force had responded to more than 65 sudden deaths since the heat wave began on friday, with more than 20 on tuesday alone.
“the vast majority of these cases are related to the heat,” he said, adding that on a typical day, vancouver police respond to between three and four sudden-death calls.
police received a flurry of calls tuesday morning “as people are showing up in their parents’ house or relatives’ house and finding them deceased,” addison said. and those relatives then had to endure a wait with the deceased for paramedics, who determine if the person can be saved, and for police, who are tasked to investigate if the death appears suspicious.
burnaby rcmp responded to 25 sudden-death calls in 24 hours.
residents of british columbia have been hard hit because many people, including the premier, don’t have air conditioning.
“this is, as i say, another horrific year that we’re not accustomed to in a temperate rainforest,” premier john horgan told reporters.
adrian dix, the province’s health minister, said on tuesday that b.c.’s ambulance system had received a record 1,975 calls on monday.
troy clifford, president of the ambulance paramedics of british columbia union, says pressure has been building on ambulance crews for months. when the heat wave hit, he told via, staffing shortages of up to 25 per cent combined with a spike in demand to create “an incredible crisis.”
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vancouver police said they had redeployed dozens of officers and asked the public to only call 911 during emergencies because the issue had depleted front-line resources and delayed response times.
“our officers are stretched thin, but we’re still doing everything we can to keep people safe,” addison said in a news release.
in addition to responding to health concerns, firefighters still answered calls for fires as well. in one case, a wildfire on tuesday morning on a waterfront cliff near the university of british columbia saw 11 units, a helicopter and rcmp and provincial wildfire crews called in to help douse the flames before they could spread to the campus and nearby ecological reserve.
the province’s chief coroner, lisa lapointe, said her office would normally receive about 130 reports of death over a four-day period. at least 233 deaths were reported from friday to 3 p.m. on monday, she said, adding that “the number will increase as data continues to be updated.”
individual stresses add to the city’s. in a proactive move to avoid discomfort, one tenant in north surrey purchased a window air conditioner for his rental unit, and then a fan for his roommate. within days, he received a one-month eviction notice from his landlord for “abusing electricity,” as it increased his utility costs. the issue is in dispute resolution.

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hundreds of people headed to parks, misting towers and beaches looking for any chance to cool off.
and ingrid jarrett, ceo of the b.c. hotel association, said residents in parts of the lower mainland, victoria and the okanagan have been booking air-conditioned rooms so they can continue working and also get some sleep.
— with additional reporting by national post wire services

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