The Yukon government is waiting for Dawson City officials to decide whether to sign a memorandum of understanding that could help alleviate the problems with paramedic services in the town.

That’s according to Ryan Soucy, deputy chief, EMS Technical Operations, who is involved in the situation.

He was responding to criticism from Dawson City fire chief Mike Masseray last week.

Masseray told the Star his staff are being called upon to fill in for the paramedic service after-hours, a duty they aren’t prepared or trained for and that most of them don’t want to fill.

He said his staff want to be firefighters – not paramedics.

Masseray said there are currently only two full-time paramedics in the town, and they provided coverage during normal working hours of approximately 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Soucy told the Star Monday afternoon the agreement was sent to Dawson officials at least a month ago.

“The goal is to come up with an agreement,” he said. “A lot of the problems will be solved when the memorandum of understanding is agreed on. We’re waiting on a response from city officials.”

Soucy added, “We want to work collaboratively with (the town).”

He confirmed some of what Masseray had to say last week.

Currently, full-time services in Dawson are being provided from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for primary care, Soucy said.

Four paramedics are on on-call after-hours, with six more community volunteers available as well, Soucy said.

“Our goal is to provide 24/7 coverage,” he said.

According to Masseray, the government isn’t mandated to provide that coverage outside of Whitehorse.

Soucy didn’t directly confirm or deny that is the case.

He pointed out the government is actively looking to recruit more people for the paramedic service. Training is provided, Soucy said, and paid for by the government.

“There’s a lot of growth within the system,” he added.