A source within the territory's medical services fears the government may be deliberately not filling a needed job to train the Yukon's rural ambulance attendants.

The person said the government recently ended a nine-month job search by hiring nobody to be the rural training coordinator.

The position is one that attendants in the community have wanted to see to help train them. The coordinator would organize and help train the ambulance volunteers in the communities.

The source noted the government held a competition which took most of the year to complete.

Pat Living, spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Services, confirmed the job was advertised in early June 2003 with an application deadline of June 25.

Despite the fact people applied in the summer, interviews did not begin until January. Living said the delay was caused by discussions with the Yukon Employees Union, including contract negotiations.

Once interviews were held, Living said, it was determined that no one 'met the criteria.' She said one of the contenders has appealed the decision.

After the appeal, if the decision is not overturned, the government will advertise the job again.

'It is our intent to staff this position,' said Living.

But if that's the intent, the person would have been hired out of this round of interviews, said the source.

The person noted that three of the eight people interviewed for the job teach some form of emergency aid at Yukon College, with over 20 years' training among the three of them.

With this much experience, the source wondered if the government did not want to staff the job and instead was choosing to wait until control for ambulance services is under the purview of the Yukon Hospital Corp.

The government is handing off control of emergency services to the hospital corporation.

Health and Social Services Minister Peter Jenkins refused to talk about the hiring controversy today because it is a personnel matter.

However, the minister did return fire on the worker, who raised issues in Friday's Star about emergency services. The person contended that poor vehicles and inadequate staffing put Yukoners' lives at risk.

One of the concerns raised was a lack of staff at the ambulance station, leaving the need for attendants to be called in if more than one ambulance is needed between 11 p.m. and 11 a.m. and if more than two are needed during the other period.

The person said that standard practice is for two ambulances to be called out to any accident.

The source said the need to call people, and often pull them out of bed, delays the response to an incident by 30 minutes or more.

Asked about that concern, Jenkins asked if the government should then send three ambulances to every traffic accident, especially single-vehicle wrecks, and whether that would be a good use of taxpayers' money.

'I believe the staffing levels at the ambulance station is more than adequate,' Jenkins said in an interview.

Another issue raised by the source pertained to problems with some of the ambulances in Whitehorse.

The person noted that one of the ambulances regularly has electrical problems. The person also mentioned an ambulance conking out on a run to Braeburn to pick up an emergency patient coming from Carmacks.

Jenkins countered that all three Whitehorse ambulances are working fine and recently passed inspection with one having a problem, not electrical, that was repaired.

'There's not an issue with the vehicles,' he said.

There are currently five ambulances based in Whitehorse but two cannot be used one due to a low ceiling and the other because it's unequipped and kept as a loaner for the communities.

As for the regular electrical problems with the one ambulance, Jenkins replied: 'If somebody left the lights on and killed the battery, there's nothing I can do about it.'

The minister added that any vehicle has problems when the outside temperature is -50 or -60 C.

The source also raised concerns about the two new ambulances the government has purchased.

The person said the ambulance destined for Ross River will not fit in the bay there. As well, the person said the ambulances will fit into the bays at the Whitehorse ambulance station and the drop-off area at the hospital but with just 25 cm (10 inches) to spare.

They said that will make it difficult to unload patients.

'I don't know who's giving you that information but it's incorrect,' the minister said.

'The ambulances will fit into the existing garages.' He added that patients can be unloaded in the Whitehorse hospital bay.

The person did not say the ambulances would not fit in Whitehorse, but with so little room to spare, they contended it would lead to problems.

According to the source, the ambulances currently in service in the Yukon are 5.5 metres (18 feet) long, whereas the new vehicles will be 7.3 metres (24 feet) in length.