A8 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 10, 1999

New maps, training top list
of ambulance unit chief

THE AGE and quality of
city strect maps is part of
the challenge ambulance at-
tendants grapple with in
Terrace, the new ambulance
station unit chief told city
councillors last week.

Carl Wassink - appeared
before council last week and
said the station is embarking
on a Vigorous training pro-
gram to ensug paramedics
here know 18dhl streets.

Council bad met the pre-
vious week with B.C, Am-
bulance Service officials in
an aitempt to get at the root
of continuing delays of am-
bulances dispatched to Local
calls.

“T was shocked at the type
of maps and the lack of
detail,’? Wassink said in
response to councillor Val
George, who asked if Ter-
race’s split streets pose par-
ticular difficulties.

“I do find Terrace is dif:
ficult and it’s going to take
some work to get some
good maps,” he added.

Wassink said there are a
some streets and roads in
the area that don’t show up
on local maps.

He said the station has ac-
quired maps from the minis-
‘try of highways, regional
district and the Terrace Fire
Department.

Councillor Linda Hawes

asked if plans for com-
puierized mapping systems
for ambulances might come
here.

Wassink said he wasn’t
aware of any such plans for
Terrace.

Killer
denied
appeal —

& LOCAL MAN _im-
prisoned for the 1994 deaths
of a father and son here has
been denied a ‘request to
have an appeal heard.

George Bliss Hawthome
was sentenced to life’ in
1997 after pleading guilty to
manslaughter and to first de-
gree murder for the deaths
of Jean Gosselin and his
son, Yvon.

But more than a year after
beginning his sentence, a vi-
tal witness for the Crown
died and Hawthorne wanted
to file a notice of appeal.

According to the law, a
notice of appeal has to be
filed within 30 days of a
conviction, Hawthome
asked for an extension of
that 30-day provision so he
could file the appeal notice.

But last week, the B.C.
Court of Appeal denied the
request for the extension
and leave to file.

Hawthome’s life sentence
for first degree murder pro-
vides for no chance of
parole for at least 25 years.
He. was also given eight
years for manslaughter to—
run concurrently with the
murder sentence,

Yvon Gosselin, 25, was
killed Sept. 10, 1994 and his
father, Jean, 66, killed Sept.
26, 1994,

Jean Gosselin’s stabbed
body was found in the ashes
of his Muller Ave. home,
while his son’s body was
discovered in a shallow
grave just off Beam Station
Road. Hawthome had shot
the younger Gosselin twice
with a crossbow.

Christopher Charles Wil-
tiams was also charged in
the killings. He admitted to
stabbing Jean Gosselin to
death, then torching ‘his
home. o

Williams was 15 at the.
time and made a plea’
bargain to testify against .
Hawthorne in exchange for
a reduced sentence, He
pleaded guilty to second de-
gree murder in the fall of
1995 and was sentenced to
the mandatory life term. But,
he is eligible for parole: in
two years,

Hawthore's — trial . was :

moved to Prince George

after a successful change of.
venue application, His Jaw-
yer argued that Hawthorne
could not get a. fair. trial

here, largely. becanse of the...
sensational nature of the |

case, ; Los a

=

TERRACE’S NEW provincial ambulance unit chief, Carl Wassink, started here

Feb. 8. He replaces Wayne Moi who moved to Fort St. John in January. Cne of
his first priotities is to update area street maps and to ensure local ambulance
crews are completely familiar with the area's layout.

‘Tt’s probably really ex-
pensive technology and
everybody’s under
budgetary constraints,’’ he
noted.

There have been a number
of incidents in recent years
in which ambulances have
gone to the wrong location,
leading city council to at
times contemplate with-
drawing from the

_Kamloops-based centralized

ambulance dispatch system.
kakkk

CARL WASSINK and his
family lived here until he
was eipht.

His wife Holly grew up in

Kitimat and both have rela-
tives in the community.

So when Terrace’s new

ambulance unit chief was
transferred here Feb, 8 from
Bums Lake, it was a chance
to return to the place he
grew up.

“Its home to me,’’ Was-
sink said,

One of his many chal-
lenges will be call volume.
Terrace, he said, responds to
about 300 calls per month
— three times that of Burns
Lake.

He has to get used to a
new station, 25 new crew
members and the city’s
other emergency services.

He’s set up bi-weekly
medical training sessions for
unit paramedics and emer-
gency personnel that, he
said, will get more complex

as the year progresses.

And Wassink has
organized an internal safety
committee to talk about
regional and ‘provincial
safety issues, ;

Until. his house in Bums
Lake is sold, Wassink. is
commuting to Burns Lake
on weekends to spend time
with his wife
school-aged children. °

When things settle down
he also plans to volunteer
with the search and rescue
unit and fire department
here, just as he did in Bums
Lake.

“It gave me a better un-
derstanding of their role and
what they do,’? Wassink
said.

_—

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