Darren Metta

Background

About Darren Metta

The BC Ambulance Special Operations office organizes all contractual ambulance coverage for the province. The purpose of contracted resources is to limit the impact large events have on the regional 911 system, and to provide prompt and efficient emergency patient care at special planned or unplanned events. BCEHS provides contracted emergency medical care at events such as: the Honda Celebration of Lights in Vancouver, the Penticton Challenge, the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, Victoria Times Colonist 10 km run, Squamish Valley Music Fest, Pemberton Music Fest and the Rockin’ River Country Music Fest. Special Operations also organize contractual ambulance coverage for various sporting events and some of the largest parades and celebrations in North America. Some examples of these are the Vancouver Canucks, BC Lions, Vancouver White Caps, Surrey Vaisakhi parade, Vancouver Pride parade, and various Canada Day celebrations. BCEHS was also one of the first North American emergency medical services agencies to organize and deploy paramedics on bicycles for major public events and mass gatherings, where traditional ambulance response is difficult or impossible due to crowd congestion. First implemented in Victoria in 1992, the BCEHS paramedic bike squads currently operate in Vancouver and Victoria, and maintain a full time 24-hour paramedic bike squad at the Vancouver International Airport.