An economical approach

The Emergency and Health Services Commission has undertaken a new, more cost-effective approach to building BC Ambulance Service stations.

The first modular station of its kind was officially opened recently in Winlaw. While providing quality crew quarters for paramedics working in the region, these modular buildings can be erected, dismantled and moved as operational needs change. The ambulance station in Winlaw is approximately one third of the cost to construct versus a purpose-built station such as one recently built in Revelstoke.

The savings do not come at the expense of meeting BC Building Code standards for health and safety, but through the quick construction process in a climate-controlled environment, free from weather delays. In 2011/12, paramedics working at the Winlaw Ambulance Station responded to 40 pre-hospital events and undertook eight inter-facility patient transfers.