Headlines are rolling in with the worst kind of “I told you so.” A crew member on board a freighter in English Bay died of a heart attack Thursday evening. Critics believe this sad event could have been avoided if the Kitsilano Coast Guard Base were still open. The federal government closed the station in February. Here’s what happened, reported by the Province:
“Critics have lamented the additional time it now takes for a rescue hovercraft stationed in Richmond to respond to emergencies in Vancouver’s English Bay.
According to Tieleman, a distress call went out just after 4 p.m. Thursday from the freighter stationed near the western edge of Stanley Park’s Ferguson Point. Paramedics responded to the shore at Vanier Park, near the old Coast Guard station, to wait for a Vancouver police boat to ferry them to the freighter. A hovercraft from the Sea Island Coast Guard station was also sent directly to the ship.
Tieleman told The Province nearly 40 minutes passed between the time paramedics were dispatched and when they finally reached the crew member. The hovercraft took about 25 minutes to reach the freighter.
It would have taken a boat only 10 minutes to reach the freighter departing from the old Kitsilano station boat launch.”
Read more here: http://www.theprovince.com/health/Freighter+crew+member+life+have+been+saved+Kitsilano+base+still+open/8231567/story.html#ixzz2QGpIAsoU
Last modified: April 12, 2013
This is heart-breaking. But right now I can only feel anger and shame. I hope the people responsible for closing the station have trouble living with themselves.