{"id":397295,"date":"2026-01-09T01:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T01:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/397295\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T01:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T01:21:15","slug":"ambulance-crash-near-tumbler-ridge-b-c-raises-frustrations-about-emergency-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/397295\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambulance crash near Tumbler Ridge, B.C., raises frustrations about emergency care"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An ambulance crash near Tumbler Ridge in northeast B.C. is raising frustrations about the growing gap in emergency care in the remote mountain community.<\/p>\n

The incident happened last Saturday on Highway 52 when an ambulance taking a patient out of the community slid into a ditch during a snow storm.<\/p>\n

B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS)\u00a0says no one was seriously hurt.<\/p>\n

But Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka says the incident highlights the risks facing patients and paramedics following cuts at the district\u2019s emergency room<\/a> last fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a remote community in the mountains, this year with lots of snow,\u201d Krakowka said. \u201cWe\u2019re really putting people at risk here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tumbler Ridge has been without evening and weekend emergency room services<\/a> since September due a doctor shortage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Patients who need after-hours emergency care are now taken by ambulance more than an hour away to the nearest hospital in Dawson Creek.<\/p>\n

Krakowka says those involved in the crash are lucky it didn’t happen on a more dangerous stretch of highway where the ambulance could have rolled over.<\/p>\n

“It’s a very small community. We’re about 2,700 people,” he said. “It’s one big family here.”<\/p>\n

BCEHS says the incident occurred at approximately 3:45 p.m. PT on Jan. 3, and that a second ambulance responded to the scene to take over the patient transport to hospital.<\/p>\n

Neither the patient nor the two paramedics on board suffered significant injuries, the agency said.<\/p>\n

BCEHS spokesperson Brian Twaites says the incident is under review. \u00a0The ambulance involved is being repaired and a different unit is now in service in Tumbler Ridge, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take the safety of paramedics, patients and members of the public very seriously,\u201d said Twaites. \u201cWe will ensure that the paramedics involved in this incident are receiving the support they need as they recover.”\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Northern Health says two ambulances have been stationed in Tumbler Ridge to handle after-hours emergency calls while it works to recruit doctors and restore local emergency room services.<\/p>\n

But Krakowka, a retired paramedic, says his concern is that the arrangement will become the new normal and evening and weekend ER services won’t return.<\/p>\n

He says dispatching a second ambulance to respond to last weekend’s crash left Tumbler Ridge short on local coverage.<\/p>\n

Krakowka says he wants to know how often the community has not had two ambulances fully staffed as promised, and how many times the units have been sent to calls in other communities, leaving his residents vulnerable if an emergency happens when they’re gone.<\/p>\n

He says he’s reached out to health agencies with those questions, but has yet to hear back. CBC News has contacted Northern Health and BCEHS with the same requests. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the fix for any community in British Columbia,\u201d Krakowka said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve reached out to Premier Eby, asking him the same thing. This is not right.”<\/p>\n

Subscribe to CBC\u2019s Fort St. John Weekly<\/a> for a round-up of the best news and stories from B.C.\u2019s Peace and Northern Rockies.<\/p>\n

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