The Yukon government had plenty of warning that an ambulance crisis was imminent, according to the Association of Yukon Communities' (AYC's) president.

At the association's annual general meeting held in Dawson City in early May, Doug Graham said today, a number of communities voiced concerns about burnt-out volunteers providing ambulance service.

Graham said Watson Lake, Dawson, Haines Junction, and Teslin all had concerns about the increased workload their volunteer crews had to deal with, mainly due to their proximity to well-travelled highways.

On Monday, all eight active volunteer attendants in Watson Lake quit and handed in their dispatch radios.

That left the government scrambling to not only find someone to cover their duties, but to try to work out an agreement so the volunteers would return.

The Watson Lake volunteers have received more than 400 calls in the past year and say their services have been stretched thin. They feel they should receive greater compensation for their work.

'The discussion at the AGM indicated, without much doubt, that this wasn't just a local problem,' Graham told the Star. 'This was a problem in a number of places.'

The AYC sent a letter to Brad Cathers, the Minister of Health and Social Services, on May 15 which had two resolutions regarding ambulance services.

The first resolution, pertaining to Watson Lake, was that the government provide the resources required to retain trained ambulance personnel in the rural communities.

The second, which was related to Haines Junction, stated people providing ambulance services should become YTG employees, and become integrated with local nursing stations and hospitals.

Graham said the association never received a response to the letter.

'It's not like this is a new problem,' he said. 'I've been aware since February or March that this was a growing issue.

'I talked to one attendant who said he couldn't even take his kids camping out for the entire weekend because he knew he'd get a call, and there wouldn't be anyone else there to answer it.'

Cathers said in an interview his department had been aware of the issue in Watson Lake for a while, and had been engaged in discussions with rural ambulance crews.

He said the majority of crews had been satisfied with progress made in discussions, but that there seemed to have been some miscommunication with the Watson Lake group.

'We were surprised when they walked out on Monday,' Cathers told the Star.

'We knew there were concerns, but we thought the representatives from the rural EMS were relatively pleased.'

A new volunteer agreement was worked on during the spring of this year, which Cathers said largely resolved many of the issues.

The new agreement provided money for uniforms and as well as increased funding for training and compensation, as well an increase to the annual capital fund.

Standby pay was another issue that came up during discussions, but Cathers said the cost of implementing that across the territory would cost millions, so that issue was dropped.

'We really appreciate the work that rural ambulance crews do, just like we appreciate the volunteer fire department,' Cathers said.

'That's why we want to work with them to address the needs of the volunteers, but at the same time we need to address the needs of the territory and figure out the most efficient use of resources.'

In 2004, the honourarium the volunteer attendants receive was also enriched. Attendants receive anywhere from $18 to $25 an hour during callouts, based on the amount of training they have.

Pauline Lund, one of the eight active attendants who quit Monday, said today only herself and her partner, who is also a volunteer, receive the upper end of that pay range. The other volunteers do not have as much training and are in the low to middle range on the pay scale.

The attendants took part in a teleconference early this afternoon with rural emergency services manager Barry Kidd to discuss the issues.

There will also be a public forum at the Watson Lake Recplex Community Hall at 7 p.m. Thursday. Volunteers, council, the Liard First Nation, physicians and nurses will be on hand to answer questions from the general public.

'The more people that come out, the better,' Lund said.

'This is an issue right here, right now, but there will most likely be a trickle-down effect to other communities as well.

'People are getting concerned that the service is so limited, and the community as a whole should be involved and understand just what is happening.'