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Before 1974, there was no established provincial ambulance service. For those in rural or isolated communities, the absence of an organized emergency response system meant valuable time was often lost before the injured or ill received necessary medical attention. Even in urban areas, where private ambulance services might exist, companies were only equipped to handle a certain number of cases. Volunteers across the province worked to fill in the gaps, often self-trained and with few resources. Lloyd O’Brien was one of those volunteers.

Lloyd O’Brien was reminded of the importance of emergency medical services and knowledge of first aid at many times throughout his life. At the age of 18 he lost his leg a railway accident in Vancouver. A few years later he was offered a job as an ambulance driver with a private company in Burnaby, picking up skills and training as he drove one of the three cars that provided services to the community.

When the Second Narrows bridge collapsed in 1958, which resulted in the death of many workers, he was one of the many who worked tirelessly to save the lives of those injured. Tragically, he had to experience the discovery of one of his best friends among those fatally injured.

Within the year, Lloyd moved away from the Lower Mainland and purchased a small restaurant in Sicamous, a tiny town in the Columbia-Shuswap district of British Columbia. However, while running the restaurant might have been the initial plan, Lloyd soon found himself at the scene of another accident after the local constable called on him (and his station wagon–the only one in the town) to help transport someone injured by a railway accident.

It was clear that Lloyd had valuable first aid knowledge, and that, plus his station wagon, led him down the path to becoming the voluntary ambulance service for the area. He was lent a siren and an emergency light, and after a friend helped him with the wiring, Lloyd’s ambulance was in service.

The demand for ambulance services soon was too much for one driver to handle, and other volunteers were recruited. A system was established where drivers charged a small amount ($5) for transport, and money was raised to buy a Pontiac hearse for a makeshift ambulance for what became the first ambulance of the Kinsmen Community Volunteer Ambulance Service, eleven years before the establishment of a provincial ambulance service.

The Labour Heritage Centre would like to thank Lloyd O’Brien, WorkSafeBC, and Vancouver Convention Centre West for assisting us in developing this short film. We are currently working to develop more to share with you. Please check back for more!