By Pat Grubb
In an emergency special meeting held October 16, Point Roberts fire commissioners voted to authorize the purchase of a new ambulance after A58, its frontline ambulance, was taken out of service due to a collision. The accident took place near the Peace Arch border crossing at roughly 3 a.m. on October 11 while transporting Georgina Mathey, a Point Roberts resident, to the hospital.
The accident occurred on the Canadian side of the Peace Arch border on Beach Road and Highway 99 when a vehicle pulled out in front of the fire district ambulance, fire chief Christopher Carleton said, resulting in the collision. The ambulance ended up sliding 180 degrees and facing northbound in the southbound lanes.
The collision threw the attending EMT, Trent Viant, across the back of the ambulance; he was admitted to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center later that morning for back pain. Chief Carleton commended the EMT for quickly resuming care of the patient until another ambulance arrived. The ambulance driver, Terry Scott, suffered injuries to their hand and lower back but was not taken to the hospital for treatment. Carleton said the injuries were reported to the state Volunteer Firefighters Board.
Mathey was also injured in the collision, though details were not provided on the extent of those injuries. She was taken to the hospital by a Ferndale fire district ambulance, while Viant was driven to the hospital via car after the incident, Carleton said. Both Georgina and her husband, Terry Mathey, were present at the special meeting following her release from hospital.
The ambulance was driving from Point Roberts to cross the Peace Arch border in Blaine before transferring the patient onto a separate ambulance to travel the remainder of the way to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Carleton said.
Damage to the Point Roberts ambulance was extensive, with the front right wheel and assembly destroyed. Speaking to commissioners at the special meeting, Carleton said claims adjusters were in the midst of determining the extent of the damage, but the process could take months to complete. If the vehicle is declared a total loss, the maximum the district would receive is approximately $165,000. The vehicle is insured through ESIP McNeil and Company.
Carleton said the vehicle was the only modern ambulance the fire district had in its fleet. In the meantime, the district will borrow an ambulance from another county fire district while it awaits the arrival of the new ambulance. The purchase was authorized on an emergency, no-bid process. The new ambulance is available now as it has been used as a demo vehicle. It is still considered a new vehicle.
The cost of the new ambulance is $272,000, give or take, depending upon delivery costs and other variables. It is a Type 1 vehicle with four-wheel drive made by Hughes Fire Equipment located in Syracuse, New York. Carleton said he was considering flying two department volunteers back East to drive it back, saving $7,000 in delivery charges.
A58 was scheduled to be replaced as part of the district’s capital improvement plan but the purchase of the new ambulance moves that up by some years. A major factor in the decision to purchase now instead of waiting for the insurance determination is that the district would be forced to abandon its practice of taking patients all the way to St. Joseph PeaceHealth in Bellingham and would have to transfer to another county EMS service at a transfer point at Ladner Trunk Road and Hwy. 99. Otherwise, the Point would be left without adequate emergency response should another emergency medical call come while the ambulance was off the Point.
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