Nass Valley to get its own ambulance service ‘By MARGARET SPEIRS , LOCAL AMBULANCE service -will ~ soon be available in the Nass’ Valley “meaning residents. there can. expect a _ Says, adding he’ Il be driving the ambu- ” much quicker response times during emergencies than ever before. ' Currently, Terrace ambulance ser- vice travels to the Nass to pick up pa-- tients at the Nisga’a Valley Health Cen- tre and transfer them to Mills Memorial Hospital, taking between a half-hour to two hour travel time one way. ‘The quicker response time will be a matter of minutes instead of hours, says Nass Valley paramedic Bruce | Haldane. Haldane is also the soon-to- be Greenville ambulance unit chief. He says personnel in the Nass Valley are almost ready to go. _ ST need to get my class four (driv- er’s) licence and that would be it,” he lance. . ‘Haldane has served with the fire ' service for 23 years and as.a member of the first responders with:an Occupa- tional First Aid level three for 10 years, which qualify him to be unit chief. About six Greenville paramedics who » | Calls for ambulance service applied for jobs previously are still in- terested, he says. “7 think that would be a good start,” he said about whether that. would be enough to service New Aiyansh, Green- ville, Canyon City and Kincolith.. “As the valley ; sees it’s working we could get more.’ The paramedics will soon be trained . to level two paramedic. | “We're introducing them to getting their feet wet, giving them experience so they know they’ re ready for the next step,” Haldane says. As soon as training is complete, ser- vice will begin, hopefully by the end of July, he said adding paramedics will be paid by the B.C. Ambulance Service. Greenville currently has two first re- sponder units and.15 personnel trained _to level three first responder and au- tomatic external defibrillator, which restarts a person’s heart after a heart attack. The additional ambulance will come from Terrace, but Haldane says | no date is set for its arrival yet. Greenville paramedics will keep the first responder unit asa backup for the ambulance. -_, . The ambulance, a mid-1980s model wil! be housed at the Greenville fire de- partment building, the halfway. point. | between Kincolith and New Aiyansh, the two villages on each end of the . Nass Valley. Haldane says the distance to Kinco-_ lith is about 30 km and it’s about 36 |; km to New Aiyansh from Greenville. ‘One. ambulance in each village would. be ideal and is a future goal, he says. ‘Whether the- ‘ambulance will trans- port patients all the way to Terrace has yet to be sorted out. “Pm not too sure of that protocol but it wouldn’t be a problem to bring them all the way to Terrace,” he says. If New Aiyansh paramedics: want to keep the ambulance in the Nass Val-. ley in the event of another emergency, rather than transport a patient to Mills Memorial Hospital, Terrace ambulance could drive up and meet them halfway, “says Terrace ambulance unit chief Carl Wassink. . ’ He doesn’t see a a significant change. to Terrace Ambulance Service | calls: even with the new ambulance. in the Nass Valley. ao continue to be high this year CALLS TO the, B.C. ~ game-time last year. That’s: more than 200 Feb., 204 in ‘March, 227 in’ Medevacs decreased to ‘897 . Ambulance Service unit here continued to steadily climb past last year’s totals both monthly and for the second quarter of the year... Unit. chief Carl’ Wassink said paramedics -responded : to 1,319 calls this year com- calls every: month, except one. In the past more than 200 would be a record “month. “Two hundred nowseems ~~ normal,” Wassink said. Paramedics responded April, 221 in May and 242 in June. Trauma calls num- bered 53, an increase of 124 per cent over last year’s sec- ond quarter. i ' Transfers rose slightly to 591 by the end of this June compared to 544 last year, a only two this year from six’ - last year at this time. The ambulances continue to rack up the mileage. — . Paramedics drove 10,086 - ‘km in Jan.; 12,041 km in Feb., * 11,378 km in March, -12,741° km in April, 14,672 km. in pared. to 1 207 during the to 198 calls in Jan., 227 in _ rise of 8.46 per cent. May and 15,278 km in June. ~~ WOOLY a : oe ee oF iy. “Uy, . “ - - : SIXTH FLOOR, 900 HOWE STREET, BOX 250 ee - 72 ap: . > , TELEPHONE: ‘ 604-660-4700: ~ : VANCOUVER, B.C. V6Z2N3 CANADA 8 an ¥ . . ‘BC TOLL FREE: 1-800-663-1385 . c : web site: http/Avww.bcuc.com - _ FACSIMILE; | 604-660-1102 oo. _ S ‘ sy. 2 CMe YO “A . Na : S con « Application . hay Satatnt Toil ret wii aie ER SFO VaR? and aa To Review and Revise the’ Automatic Adjustment Mechanism Used i in Calculating the ROE Allowed in Rates for Public Utilities Regulated by the BC Utilities Commission Date: Wednesday, August 3, 2005 Time: - 9:00 a.m. ‘Location: BC Utilities Commission Hearing Room 5 Sixth Floor 900 Howe Street ° Vancouver, B.C. — " THE APPLICATION 7 By Application dated June 30, 2005, the Companies submit that: 1) the allowed returns on equity of both Companies should be increased to an appropriate level, 2) the common equity component in the: capital structure of both Companies should be increased to properly reflect the risks of the Companies, _ and 3) the current ROE adjustment mechanism should be reviewed and revised to to provide the . Companies with a fair and adequate return on equity ar in future years. THE REGULATORY PROCESS The Commission will hold a Procedural Conference regarding the regulatory process for the review of the TGI and TGVI Application on Wednesday, August 3, 2005, commencing at 9:00 a.m. in the Commission Hearing Room « on the Sixth Floor, 900 Howe Street, Vancouver, B.C. - Following the Procedural Conference, the Commission will i issue a further procedural order and regulatory agenda to registered parties. , PUBLIC INSPECTION OF THE DOCUMENTS . The Application and supporting material will be made available for. inspection at the TGI Head Office . at 16705 Fraser Highway, Surrey, B.C., V3S 2X7 and the British Columbia Utilities Commission office: Sixth Floor, 900 Howe Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6Z 2N3: _ The Application will also be available for viewing on the TGI website at www. terasengas. com mand on the Commission’ s website at www.beuc. com. ; INTERVENTIONS Persons who expect to actively participate in this proceeding should register as Intervenors with the Commission, in writing, by July 29, 2005, identifying their interest in the TGI and TGVI Application and indicating whether they plan to attend the Procedural Conference. Intervenors should identify - ‘the issues that they intend to pursue and the nature and extent of their anticipated involvement in the review process. Intervenors will each receive a copy of the Application and all correspondence and - filed documentation. Intervenors should provide an e-mail address if available. \ Persons not expecting to actively participate, but who have an interest in the proceeding should register Application and indicating whether they plan to attend the Procedural Conference. Interested Parties. ' will each receive a copy of the cover letter to the Application, and all Orders and Decisions issued. 1 FURTHER INFORMATION For further information, please contact Mr. Robert J. Pellatt, Commission Secretary, or Mr. Jim Fraser, Director, Strategic Services, as follows: , Telephone: 604-660-4700 Facsimile: 604-660-1102 E-Mail: Commission.Secretary@bcuc.com - Telephone: (B.C. Toll Free) 1-800-663-1385 Terasen Gas Inc. erer? and Terasen Gas (Vancouver Island) Inc. 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