Ness Lake resident Laurie Muise was at home around noon on July 21, after volunteering with the BC Summer Games, when she heard her daughter screaming downstairs.
Her daughter’s 17-year-old friend was lying on the floor of Muise’s basement, having a grand mal seizure. Muise, a former Ness Lake Fire Volunteer Fire Department member, knew what to do.
“I told (my daughter) to call 911 right away. She called, then handed me the phone. I asked right away for them to dispatch the fire department,” she said. “The ambulance took about half an hour, from town. But our fire department could have been here in five minutes.”
With road construction and the extra traffic because of the BC Summer Games events being held at Ness Lake, Muise said she was concerned it could be a long time for the ambulance to arrive.
Muise said she had a family member who suffered from seizures and was familiar with what they look like. But the teenager had no history of seizures and as it ended, she was confused, disoriented and kept saying her arm hurt, Muise said. It turned out later that the seizure had been so intense, the girl had dislocated her shoulder, but at the time they didn’t know what had caused the seizure or the pain.
“Near the end of the phone call, she came out of the seizure,” she said. “I called them back 10-15 minutes later, because she was complaining about her arm hurting, and I thought she might be having a stroke. I asked them where the fire department was, but they said they couldn’t come.”
The girl’s mother arrived before the ambulance. When the paramedics arrived, they told her there was a risk her daughter could have a second seizure and the ambulance might need to take off at high speed to get her to the hospital, Muise said.
“That ambulance didn’t even have the medication she would need,” Muise said.
‘I CAN’T SEE HOW THEY COULD MAKE THAT CALL’
A friend in the Ness Lake fire department later told Muise they’d never gotten the call out to attend the incident. The Citizen could not independently confirm that.
“I’m pissed off, because I requested it, and then I phoned them back and requested it again,” Muise said. “Because she’d never had (a seizure) before, they should have come.”
Ness Lake Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Percy Dergez declined to comment and referred the Citizen to the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George.
“For privacy reasons, we are not able to go into details of the specific call, but we can share that when a 9-1-1 call is dispatched to BC Ambulance Service, it is the sole decision of BC Ambulance Service to determine if they require additional First Responder support for the call,” regional district spokesperson Renee McCloskey said in an email. “If they decide they do not require additional First Responder support, no additional agencies are dispatched.”
Regional District of Fraser-Fort George director Warren Wilson, who represents the Ness Lake area, said he is concerned that BC Ambulance made the decision not to notify the Ness Lake fire department.
“The person remained on the ground for a long time… before the ambulance got there,” Wilson said. “For BC Ambulance to make the decision to not bring the volunteer fire department was a significant call. I can’t see how they could make that call, when they really didn’t know (the girl’s condition.)”
BC AMBULANCE RESPONSE
In an emailed statement, the B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), which operates the BC Ambulance Service, said emergency dispatchers use the internationally-recognized Medical Priority Dispatch System and Clinical Response Model to prioritize first responder resources.
"Having a loved one suffer a medical emergency is stressful and we want to reassure the patient and their family that BCEHS works hard to respond to all emergency calls with the appropriate resources based on the severity of a patient's condition," the BCEHS statement said. "BCEHS is looking into the circumstances of this call and our early information is that fire first responder notification was not initiated. This could be for a number of reasons, every patient’s condition is different. We will work with the Patient Care Quality Office to reach out to the patient’s family to answer any concerns or questions they have."
BC Ambulace works with professional and volunteer fire departments, who are able to provide basic first aid and emergency health services while paramedics are en route to a medical emergency.
"BCEHS responds to the most critically ill and injured patients first, by prioritizing the response based on the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS), a system used around the world," the BCEHS statement said. " In this system, patients reported to have life-threatening symptoms including cardiac arrest, chest pain, breathing difficulties, and severe bleeding or unconsciousness are prioritized."
A colour-code system, with purple being the most urgent and blue the least urgent, is used to prioritize calls for emergency medical help, the statement said. Cases that are immediately life threatening (for example, cardiac arrest) are categorized as purple; immediately life-threatening or time-critical calls (for example, chest pain) are categorized as red; urgent or potentially serious, but not immediately life-threatening calls (for example, abdominal pain) are categorized as orange; non-urgent calls (such as a sprained ankle) are categorized as yellow; and non-urgent calls which can be handled by telephone triage and advice are classed as blue.
"BCEHS automatically notifies firefighter first responders when calls are coded red or purple under the (Clinical Response Model), where minutes or seconds in response time can be a matter of life or death," the ECEHS statement said. "Although BCEHS may also notify volunteer firefighter departments of certain orange and yellow calls depending on the circumstances, first responder partner agencies determine what types of calls they have the resources to respond to. It is essential that all emergency services are used where and when they are needed the most to ensure the best use of all emergency resources to care for patients."
PATIENT ON THE MEND
Muise said her daughter’s friend did recover, although she will need to follow up with doctors to determine the cause of the seizure. The incident has inspired her daughter and her friends.
“I asked them what they’d have done if it had happened while they were out on the lake. The answer was, ‘go to the first house, and call 911, don’t try to get back home,’” Muise said. “My daughter and her friends are all going to take first aid.”
