Community-funded emergency response vehicle enters service with KERPA

KERPA’s physician-response vehicles are pictured at a 2024 community event. The organization has since retired its original ERV1 after more than 1,000 emergency calls and put the community-funded ERV3 into service.

Photo: Kootenay Emergency Response Physicians Association

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A new emergency response vehicle is carrying Kootenay physicians to critical 911 calls after community organizations, fundraisers and private donors helped pay for its purchase and outfitting.

The Kootenay Emergency Response Physicians Association announced Sept. 1 that Emergency Response Vehicle 3, or ERV3, is fully equipped, insured and operational. The vehicle replaces KERPA’s original response vehicle, ERV1, which the organization said was retired after responding to more than 1,000 emergency calls.

KERPA credited the IODE Kokanee Branch, Brindy’s 4-on-4 Hockey Tournament, Nelson Lions Club, organizers and supporters of the Pickleball Tournament for KERPA and private donors with helping fund the replacement.

KERPA physicians are dispatched to immediate threat-to-life 911 calls and work alongside BC Emergency Health Services paramedics and other emergency responders. The physicians use dedicated response vehicles carrying specialized medications and medical equipment that can be used to provide advanced care before a patient reaches hospital.

The organization’s response area includes Nelson, Castlegar, Kaslo, Winlaw and Salmo. KERPA’s 2025 annual report says its physicians attended 171 primary missions during the year and were available for 478 immediate threat-to-life emergencies, making 2025 the organization’s busiest year to date.

KERPA said its medical expertise or equipment was used during 112 of those primary missions, while 36 high-acuity patients received critical interventions at the scene. The organization has also reported a 300 per cent increase in emergency callouts between 2021 and 2024.

The charity says its service is supported through grants, public donations and community sponsorship and does not bill patients or the Medical Services Plan. KERPA says it receives no government funding for its operations, although BC Emergency Health Services replaces a small number of specialized supplies that cannot be purchased commercially.

KERPA’s emergency response vehicles carry equipment including cardiac monitors and defibrillators, portable ultrasound equipment, medications, intravenous fluids and specialized trauma equipment.

The physician-response program in Nelson dates to 2014, when emergency physician Dr. Nic Sparrow began responding to high-priority calls in the area. KERPA was formally established as a non-profit organization in 2016 and became a registered Canadian charity in 2018.

The organization has since expanded to multiple physicians and two equipped emergency response vehicles. ERV3 replaces ERV1 in that fleet.

KERPA received full Special Operations Medical Retrieval accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems in 2021 and was recertified in 2024. KERPA describes itself as the first ground-based physician emergency medical service in Canada to receive the accreditation.

With ERV3 now in service, the replacement vehicle will continue carrying KERPA physicians and specialized medical equipment to serious and life-threatening emergencies across the organization’s response area.

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