Conversations That Matter

Ep 429 - Sounding the Ambulance Alarm Guest: Troy Clifford By Stuart McNish   Imagine that a loved one in your family has fallen and hurt themselves. They can’t move. You call 9-1-1 and ask for an ambulance to be sent to your home – at least, that’s what you thought was the best way to care for your cherished family member. “Now, you can’t help but wonder if an ambulance will arrive,” says Troy Clifford, the Provincial President of the Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers of British Columbia union.   From the streets of Vancouver to Valemount and everywhere in between, calling for an ambulance and having one arrive in a timely and life saving manner is becoming iffy. Clifford says, “It’s the service that is on life support and we’re sounding the alarm.”  Simply put, paramedics are in the business of helping people when they are having one of the worst days of their lives.   Clifford says, “It’s the system that is failing at the bureaucratic and operational levels; it’s not because our members can’t treat pati