Declining road conditions on Savary Island could have resulted in exacerbating injuries to a patient transported during a recent first responder call, according to a report from Savary Island Volunteer Fire Department (SIVFD).
The report was presented at Powell River Regional District rural services committee meeting on February 13.
The patient had multiple injuries including a suspected spinal injury, and was transported from the west end of the island to the wharf in the SIVFD’s emergency transport vehicle. The 7.5-kilometre drive along Vancouver Boulevard, the island’s main road, took 37 minutes. This was largely due to the driver having to repeatedly navigate numerous potholes along the road. The emergency vehicle was forced to maintain an average speed of 12 kilometres per hour.
The report outlined that road conditions are badly deteriorated and present an ongoing hazard of this nature to local fire service.
The roads on Savary are classified by the ministry of transportation and infrastructure (MOTI) as 7F or 8F. This means that they are considered to have an average traffic volume of only zero to 10 vehicles per day during summer months. Class F are roads that are not maintained, or not opened, during the winter months. This classification results in minimal maintenance by the MOTI maintenance contractor. “The poor road conditions impact the Savary Island Volunteer Fire Department’s ability to deliver emergency service,” the report stated. “Response times for both fire and first responder vehicles are much slower than they would otherwise be on roads maintained to a higher standard.”
The report also pointed out that a consultant who visited Savary during the Fire Services Review reported “dangerous road conditions in some areas,” and that use of the fire department’s pumper and tanker on the more difficult roads “poses significant risk of equipment damage and operator injury.”
The committee recommended the regional district board submit a letter to Todd Stone, minister of transportation and infrastructure, advising of the situation and that the committee direct staff to secure a vehicle counter to obtain an accurate average daily count for traffic on Vancouver Boulevard on Savary Island.