The Yukon government will spend whatever it takes to keep community ambulance services on life support, Premier Dennis Fentie said Wednesday.

It was a surprise to health officials when Watson Lake and Dawson City volunteers walked off the job earlier this month.

However, the government will do whatever it takes to ensure Yukon communities have ambulances available in case of emergency, Fentie told reporters by phone from Anchorage.

He said the government will continue to fill the gap with its own employees until a settlement can be worked out with community volunteers.

'It came as a surprise to all of us, the recent events that transpired a couple of weeks ago; however, that's all said and done,' he said.

'Our responsibility as a government is to ensure the availability of an ambulance service and emergency services, and that's exactly what's happening, and we'll continue to work with all communities on this matter,' the premier said.

'We will not allow the lack of ambulance service in Yukon communities, period. What it costs, is what it costs.'

Earlier this month, all eight members of Watson Lake's volunteer ambulance department turned in their radios. They said the rising volume of calls from 200 to 400 over the past few years was more than volunteers could handle.

A few days later, all 12 volunteers of Dawson City's volunteer ambulance service walked off the job, saying they too were burned out and it was getting harder and harder to get time off work to respond to the rising numbers of calls in that community.

Both communities' volunteers were seeking better compensation for ambulance attendants.

Other community officials said at the Association of Yukon Communities' annual general meeting in May they were also experiencing problems.

Haines Junction Mayor George Nassiopoulos said his community's ambulance attendants were burning out and called for full-time, paid positions to be implemented.

Mayo Coun. Kris Pavlovich said his community was experiencing problems as well.

'We've got an ambulance that I've never been trained on, that nobody's ever been trained on.'

Fentie said discussions between Department of Health and Social Services officials and volunteers are ongoing.

Whatever the outcome, said the premier, who represents Watson Lake, he would like to see a volunteer service continue.

'The one measure that I think we have to understand is the level of volunteerism in these communities.

'Much of this country, especially in smaller regions, when it comes to emergency services, are connected directly to the very principle of volunteerism,' Fentie said.

'There's a principle here and an element of volunteerism that cannot be lost. And that is something that we will ensure is part of the equation as we go forward,' he said.