WorkSafeBC has been working with BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) in the amended first aid regulations.
As indicated in the guideline, under G3.16 First Aid Assessment, Determining additional first aid service requirements — Section 3.16(1)(b):
Employers must consider known barriers that may affect BCEHS response time, or time to transport to hospital such as hours of operation, doctor availability, hospital diversion protocols, or routine closures of BCEHS stations that would significantly impact transport time to hospital.
These factors may be temporary or permanent, but when they are known or reasonably foreseeable, they should be factored into the employer’s risk assessment. “Reasonably foreseeable” includes those that are known to the employer or workers through previous experience or observation, or that are widely publicized in the news or social media outlets.
Where barriers to transport are identified, the employer should take all reasonable measures to eliminate or otherwise minimize the impact of these barriers on the time it may take to transport a worker to medical treatment. Consider providing supplemental emergency transportation to safely transport an injured worker to hospital or to meet BCEHS enroute and/or a higher level of first aid attendant and equipment to better manage injuries while waiting for BCEHS. First aid procedures should be updated as well to consider these barriers (e.g., in the event of a worker injury, consider hospital emergency room availability in transport decisions).
BCEHS working towards more ambulance services – More ambulance services coming soon to rural and remote communities across B.C. (bcehs.ca)
