Thread by @PennyDaflos

The @bccoroners report into BC's heat dome found 83% of people were already dead or died at the scene when paramedics arrived
Just imagine the trauma & moral distress
We'll never know how many deaths could've been avoided, but what I do know... 1/ 🧵
bc.ctvnews.ca/coroners-revie…

Is that brass at @BC_EHS didn't take the threat seriously and didnt go to their highest alert level until well after mass casualties rolled in
I've never had a good explanation as to why
But multiple frontline workers told me mgmt ignored their concerns 2/
bc.ctvnews.ca/bcehs-struggle…

Perhaps EHS was among the many civic officials, emergency planning personnel and other key stakeholders who had no clue what a "Level 2 Heat Alert" meant?
The disastrous failure of public health & emergency comms was highlighted by @bccoroners today 3/

https://twitter.com/PennyDaflos/status/1415520955821027328

For all their own faults and issues, @EComm911_info had warned there was a risk to public safety due to EHS staffing issues -- weeks before an unprecedented dire heat alert 4/
bc.ctvnews.ca/significant-ri…

Paramedics are blunt: they have told me BC's ambulance service outright collapsed during the heat dome, with one describing those days as "apocalyptic"
But the new BCEHS boss kept sidestepping my questions about planning and decision-making when I asked 5/
bc.ctvnews.ca/we-re-taking-a…

It turns out, when Heppell told me COO Mackinnon was "still a valued member of the team" she was actually on leave and "chose to accept a new role"
Yes, PHSA quietly moved the top two EHS decision-makers who oversaw the heat dome response 6/
bc.ctvnews.ca/top-ambulance-…

I know the health minister addressed the ambulance delays that night, insisting yesterday that they've hired nearly 200 paramedics and dispatchers
But it's not enough because this situation is only getting worse 👇 7/

https://mobile.twitter.com/PennyDaflos/status/1458654131153825796

I spent weeks digging into issues in our prehospital healthcare system and guess what? The family doctor shortage was already a big factor last year and you know from my recent deep-dive how much worse things are going in primary care today 8/
bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-family-doc…

Could we have saved every one of the 600+ BCers who died in the heat dome?
Highly unlikely, but I am certain that better communication and planning would've saved lives
WA and OR fared much better in the face of similar conditions & challenges 9/

https://twitter.com/PennyDaflos/status/1417878928207880198

I'll forever consider handling of the heat dome one of the biggest scandals in #bcpoli history, which was largely overshadowed by the pandemic and its stranglehold on our lives
These details & accounts from paramedics that week should haunt all of us 10/10
bc.ctvnews.ca/dying-for-week…