British Columbia Ambulance Service Statistics

The British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS), formed by the provincial government in 1974, is the largest provider of emergency health care in Canada and one of the largest in North America. Through the provision of dispatch and paramedic services, expert patient care is delivered from the time a call for help is placed to 9-1-1, to treatment at the scene and transport to hospital.

Ambulance Response Call Volumes

In the last three years, demand for ambulance service throughout B.C. has increased by 12 per cent. In 2006/07, BC Ambulance responded to more than 521,000 events compared to approximately 432,000 in 2003/04. The following table shows the number of events by year for both ground and air ambulances for the past four years.

Fiscal Year 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007
Ground Ambulance 432,283 467,052 496,949 521,388
Air Ambulance 7,416 7,784 7,960 8,295

Pre-Hospital Call Types

In 2006/07, falls/back injuries, traffic accidents, sick person (specific diagnosis), unknown problem (man down), breathing problems, chest pain and unconscious/fainting are the most common types of pre-hospital emergency calls received by the BCAS. The BCAS also completed close to 155,000 non-emergency, inter-facility transfers in 2006/07.

Air Ambulance

BCAS air ambulance employs dedicated aircraft and utilizes commercial, charter and armed forces aircraft when required. Resources include six airplanes (three based in Vancouver, two in Kelowna and one in Prince George) and three helicopters (two based in Vancouver and one based in Prince Rupert).

The expenditures for the BCAS Air Ambulance Program have risen by 67 per cent to an estimated $40 million in 2007/08, compared to the 2000/01 budget of $24 million.

In 2001/02, BCAS air ambulance transported 7,031 patients at a cost of $3,324 per patient compared to 8,300 patient transfers in 2006/07 at a cost of $4,403 per patient, representing a 32 per cent cost increase over the past six years. Increasing call volumes, labour costs and rising fuel prices account for the bulk of the cost increase.

Call Urgency Profile

The BCAS ground ambulance call volumes are broken into categories depending on the nature of the situation. The following table shows the breakdown of the urgency of calls in 2006/07.

Category % of Events
Code 2 (routine, not life-threatening) 41.2
Code 3 (emergency, potentially life-threatening) 29.1
Inter-facility (non-emergency) Transfers 29.7

Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres

The BCAS operates Regional Dispatch Centres in Victoria, Vancouver and Kamloops and the Provincial Air Ambulance Coordination Centre in Victoria.

When a call is received, the dispatch call-taker asks the caller a series of questions based on the Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch SystemTM, an internationally recognized call assessment process that helps emergency medical dispatchers determine the severity of the patient's condition.

Pre-Hospital events are triaged similar to how patient conditions are assessed in a hospital emergency room – the most critical patients are attended to first. The BCAS prioritizes how ambulances are dispatched based on the caller's description of the nature and extent of the medical condition or injury. Approximately 59 per cent of pre-hospital ambulance calls are conducted in a manner that does not require an emergency driving response.

When contacting 9-1-1, callers should be prepared to answer questions, listen carefully, speak clearly and try to remain calm. BCAS call-takers are experienced 'question askers' and their persistence provides specific information to the attending paramedics.

BCAS Annual Budget

The budget for the BCAS has risen by more than 56 per cent in the past six years, reaching $283 million in 2007/08 compared to $181 million in 2001/02.

2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008
$181 million $188 million $191 million $221 million $254 million $267 million $283 million

Coverage

Total Population Served 4.3 million
Total BCAS Coverage Area 929,730 sq. km.
Population Density 4.7 people per sq.km.

Resources

Total Field Paramedics 3,200
Total Ambulances and Support Units 506
Total Ambulance Stations 187

Deployment

Of the 191 communities with ground ambulance stations in BC, each are designated as either remote, rural, urban or metropolitan depending on a number of criteria, some of which include call volume and proximity to health care facilities. The BCAS reviews station designations on a regular basis and will make adjustments as required.

In February 2005, 48 ambulance stations across B.C. were upgraded to rural from a remote designation, which means they now have 24/7 standby coverage at the station. Previously the stations did not have staff on site 24/7 and paramedics were on-call. Ten ambulance stations were upgraded in September 2005 from rural to urban. These service upgrades are based on the changing needs of the community, including increased call volumes.

Defibrillators

The BCAS has semi-automatic external defibrillators in all Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances and manual defibrillators in all Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances.

Published: December 10, 2000 | Last Edit: Tuesday, September 18, 2007