A short-term compromise has been reached that will allow the Whistler Health Centre's helipad to remain open until the fall.
The
centre's clerical aides and other staff, plus RCMP, BC Ambulance staff
and Whistler Fire Rescue, will share duties in keeping traffic and
pedestrians a safe distance from landing or departing helicopters, said
Clay Adams of Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH).
VCH has submitted a
proposal to Transport Canada that "will get physical bodies onto the
streets," and this temporary measure had been approved by the
stakeholders involved, including the Resort Municipality of Whistler,
said Adams.
"We got approval for a short-term plan from Transport
Canada which will allow us to keep the helipad in operation until
September," Adams said.
In mid-May, Transport Canada inspectors
were in Whistler to carry out an audit of the helipad's operations and
observed people not obeying traffic signals at Blackcomb Way and Lorimer
Road that are activated when a helicopter is about to land or depart.
Adams did not anticipated added costs to implement the plan.
"Whistler
Health Care Centre staff will take on the traffic management roles
within their existing shifts (meaning they will be at work at the time
of a landing/takeoff and not asked to come into work for the specific
role). The contribution of our partners from the RCMP and BCAS has been
arranged on a volunteer basis," he said, adding that everyone understood
that this was untenable in the long term.
The decision came
following an audit the federal department made of the helipad's
operations in mid-May. At that time, Vancouver Coastal Health, which
ultimately has responsibility for the helipad, was given until July 2 to
come up with a plan to address the issue by mid-August or risk the
helipad being issued a notice of suspension.
Adams said the
Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) did not like the idea of
barriers, as supported by Transport Canada, and suggested that there was
a lack of interest, along with a lack of funding, to make it happen.
"It
has been frustrating to get everyone together to find a solution that
is workable... We're in the health care business, not traffic
management," he said.
Added Adams of the decision to bring in
help from emergency responders and the health centre's staff: "This
points back to something that is short term vs. long term. I can't see
anyone want to commit to this ad inifinitum."
Whistler Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden said she hopes the temporary remedy will work.
"Certainly
it will be a challenge if a helicopter is arriving or departing at the
same time as some other emergency call because it looks like Vancouver
Coastal Health will be relying on a certain extent on the availability
of first responders. We'll have a couple of months to see if this does
work," she said.
Wilhelm-Morden said no other meetings on the subject were currently arranged but anticipated them.
"There
was some discussion about fencing around the helipad and we're not
really thrilled about that, but then it can't be very high because that
would interfere with the flight path and if you don't have a high fence
then it's not going to be very effective. That didn't seem to be a very
good solution," she said.
"We did have a discussion about barriers but not very detailed at all."
The mayor said considerable uncertainty remained.
"What I hope would happen is that people pay attention to the darned lights," Wilhelm-Morden said.
"If
they would, that's the solution. So maybe it's just a case of better
education of members of the public. The lights haven't been up there for
that long, and I have to say personally I find them confusing sometimes
when I am driving. One light is green and another is red."
Source: http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com
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