Bring Back Our Calls
Thank you to everyone who signed-on to the Petition seeking formal re-assessment of the reduced call-out status of Metchosin’s Fire Department Emergency Response team as a result of the process initiated by provincial authorities under the Critical Response Model.
Link to the following important documents below:
Letter to Health Minister Adrian Dix and other provincial government officials.
The 526 Metchosin residents who signed the letter of petition know that a well-trained, timely, volunteer response system as in the District of Metchosin, as a timely adjunct to the BC Ambulance Service, is what our rural residents and visitors need and should have.
Metchosin’s unique character speaks for itself:
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At 71 square kilometers, Metchosin is the second largest municipality in the Capital Regional District (CRD) with a widely distributed population of just over 5,000 people, at least a quarter of whom are over the age of 65 years.
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Our Fire Department’s capture area includes the 12 square kilometers of the Beecher Bay lands and First Nations residents.
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Metchosin’s terrain is challenging. Most Metchosin residents live on properties of at least two acres, often on winding, narrow and hilly roads. This often includes numerous off-road topographical challenges such as extensive regional and local parks and an enviable 13 km. network of trails developed and maintained by District volunteers.
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Metchosin has 143 status farms (BC Assessment Authority 2025) including many livestock operations of size.
Metchosin residents work diligently to support a strong sense of community so that friends and neighbours who suffer illness or injury do not have to face these challenges alone. Providing this immediate care and comfort, Metchosin’s typical on-scene First Response time is 4½ minutes and is often a key factor in patient survival and recovery. Data indicates that for the period of 2015 to 2019 inclusive, 240 out of a total of 577 calls (42%) to 911 took BCAS more than 15 minutes to arrive on the scene; this resulted in 48 protracted response times per year.
We know that a well-trained, timely, volunteer response system as in the District of Metchosin, as a timely adjunct to the BC Ambulance Service, is what our rural residents and visitors need and should have.
We are pleased to announce that after three years of dedicated effort, including multiple meeting with provincial government and BCEHS representatives, 10 women from the APRM, led by then VP Chris Moehr and former Fire Chief Stephanie Dunlop, success was finally achieved. Thanks also go to Chief Russ Chipps of Beecher Bay for joining our cause and to Roxanne Egan-Elliott for her decisive and timely write-ups in the Times Colonist.
Roxannes article can be accessed at: https://www.timescolonist.com/archive/metchosin-residents-fire-chief-call-for-change-to-how-911-calls-are-handled-4688537