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St. John Ambulance closes Townsite division

Local membership receives notification to disband brigade and branch
ambulance
STANDING DOWN: St. John Ambulance BC and Yukon Brigade has shut down its Powell River location. Members of the local division and supporters from Powell River Health-Care Auxiliary, which raised $70,000 for the purchase of the brigade’s ambulance, are upset with the decision. David Brindle photo

Volunteer members of St. John Ambulance in Powell River are questioning the reasons given for closure of the local brigade and branch.

A letter signed by St. John Ambulance BC and Yukon Brigade provincial commissioner Romano Acconci on February 5, four days after the effective date of the doors being locked, notified local membership of the “stand down and subsequent disbandment” effective February 1.

“We're locked out,” said local brigade officer in charge Lyle Brewster, who received the letter on February 7, six days after the closure notification. “St. John's corporate in Vancouver has decided to close us down and all of our equipment, including the ambulance we have and our mobile first aid post, is all going to be taken away to Vancouver and redistributed among other places.”

Brewster said the ambulance has not been taken yet because it would not start.

In the letter, Acconci stated that, “After six months of discussions and exhausting all options to ensure consistent leadership, a strong community presence and fiscal sustainability, the decision was reluctantly taken to close down the division.”

St. John Ambulance BC and Yukon chief executive officer Karen MacPherson said the provincial organization had been talking to local membership for months and the decision to close Powell River, one of the smaller branches in terms of first aid training, is part of a provincial restructuring.

“It wasn't abrupt at all; we have been in discussions with this very group for over six months about this plan,” said MacPherson. “This wouldn't have been a surprise. This has been in discussion for a long time.”

Former division officer in charge Larry Gemmill, who resigned in October 2017, said he saw the closure coming.

“I was informed about six months ago at a meeting on [Vancouver Island] that we should be looking for less expensive accommodation for the brigade,” said Gemmill. “They say they had consultations with us. We just got directives saying ‘find a cheaper place.’”

There was more to the decision than that, according to St. John Ambulance director of community services Jill Wurflinger.

“Larry has expressed his frustration to us for years,” said Wurlfinger, “and Larry stepped back when we said, ‘Okay, we need to sit down, we need to make a recruitment plan, we need to make a financial plan to make sure you guys are sustainable and you can continue to serve the community with medical first response.’”

Powell River division had traditionally raised approximately $2,400 annually through donations, according to Gemmill, and to find another less expensive space for the brigade to store supplies, equipment and conduct meetings was next to impossible.

Gemmill’s assertion that the division was shut down for financial reasons is supported by an email sent to Brewster from Vancouver Island area commissioner David Valentine and dated December 29, 2017.

Valentine stated that “the need for the division to relocate was not a negotiation” and gave a two-week deadline to present some viable options.

“The division is not making enough money to support itself,” said Valentine.

He added that the division’s large building was the major expense and emphasized the need to find more affordable accommodations.

“Come back with viable options and I will look at them,” stated Valentine. "No more denials."

Each division has two entities, the brigade, which provides first aid and receives donations, and the branch, which raises money through first aid training. Brigade member Ian Boyd said he admits being bitter about the closure.

“We’re not making enough money,” said Boyd. “That’s the reason.”

The closure is not a financial issue, but one of the Powell River brigade not being overly active, and leadership, according to MacPherson.

“It was more of a leadership decision at the volunteer level and being able to organize themselves,” said MacPherson. “When volunteers don't have enough time for the services we promise to the community then we have to look at that and see what's a better solution.”

Wurflinger said brigade membership has been dwindling for years.

“They have only eight active medical first responders,” she added.

That number is not sustainable to serve community needs, said Wurflinger.

Gemmill said that is inaccurate.

“We had 25 events last year and serviced 112 patients,” he said. “We did not turn down any events for lack of membership.”

Founded in Canada in 1884, St. John Ambulance has been in Powell River for 107 years, arriving with the founding of the mill site and construction of the Townsite settlement. A.W. “George” Clapp, who worked for the Powell River Company, started St. John Ambulance in 1911.

Over the years, the organization has provided first aid training and continually provided first aid response services in the community at a variety of public events, including school sports events and summer festivals. The ambulance service is also part of Powell River’s emergency disaster response group.

“The building is also an emergency reception centre for the Townsite area,” said Brewster, “in the case of a disaster.”