Junior player forced to lay on the ice for nearly an hour waiting for an ambulance

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Josh tupper
October 5, 2022 (11:09)

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Injuries are unfortunately part of the game of hockey. They're unavoidable. Despite all precautions being taken things happen, but how those injuries are handled often determine the outcome. A quick response to a serious injury can prevent serious long-term damage.

At a recent hockey game between the Vernon Vipers and Price George Spruce Kings, Will Blackburn a 19-year-ole player feel hard into the boards head first. Due to the severity of the impact and situation officials and medical personnel determined they should call an ambulance.

Unfortunately for Blackburn that ambulance didn't arrive in a timely fashion. Now the community has expressed concerns about their safety.

It took the ambulance almost 50 minutes to arrive despite multiple calls to 911. Mike Hawes a league official told CBC News the following'

He's lying on the cold ice, and at that point, you know, the [hockey staff] were starting to get a little bit concerned about hypothermia as well as what could be another injury.

Despite multiple 911 calls paramedics didn't attend until the game's announcer drove to the ambulance bay at the University Hospital.

Unfortunately, I think that's kind of the way we ended up getting the paramedics to attend was the fact we sent one of our staff members up to the hospital to talk to them, face to face.

By the time Blackburn had arrived at the hospital over an hour had elapsed since the injury occurred. Luckily Blackburn was cleared later that night and travel home with his team. But things could have been much worse.

I know it's in every community in the province, and it's something that hopefully can get sorted out. What if it was a much, much more serious injury?

The ending of the game was ultimately called off and BC Emergency Health provided the following update:

When the call first came in, it was rated "yellow", meaning no lights or sirens were necessary. That was upgraded to "orange" once the announcer showed up at the hospital.

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Is this an acceptable response time?
Yes, health care workers are stretched thin	25	25.3 %
Absolutely not, this could be much worse	74	74.7 %
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