CEN News Articles

EMS Profile: Eric Glass

EMSNews.com — Sat, 20 Feb 2010

What's
your current position?

I'm employed as a paramedic with
the Central Region Health Authority in Manitoba. I'm Chair of the Paramedic
Association of Manitoba (PAM) and also chair the Board of Directors of the
Paramedic Association of Canada (PAC).
1. When
  did your first job commence as an EMS professional?
  
  I first got into EMS in 1992 as a
  volunteer ambulance attendant. My interest in the profession began to expand
  when I was managing a municipal-based volunteer ambulance service in the
  mid-1990s. Funding was always a concern, volunteers were dwindling, service
  demands were increasing, and patient care was all over the map in Manitoba. In
  late 2000 I was invited to attend a meeting of rural and urban paramedics who
  were attempting to resurrect a provincial professional association which later
  became PAM.
  1. Why
    did you decide to pursue a career in EMS?
    
    My initial interest in EMS was
    rather self-serving. I was looking for an opportunity to become involved in the
    community that we had just moved to, and the municipal ambulance service was
    looking for new recruits. With absolutely no experience, and quite honestly no
    idea what I was getting into to, I signed up. That experience and working in
    the "system" proved to be very rewarding and enticed me to pursue options to
    become more involved in EMS, which led to not only employment within the field,
    but also piqued my interest in development of the profession and system
    improvements.
    
    4. Who
    was the biggest inspiration to you when you were first starting in EMS?
    
    As corny as it may sound, I was
    genuinely most inspired by my colleagues at the time. They were a group of very
    dedicated and caring community volunteers, many of whom had been instrumental
    in getting the ambulance service in Sanford, MB up and running in the late
    1980s. I joined the provincial licensing team as an examiner for Manitoba
    Health and saw examples of that commitment right across the province. The
    experience was very inspirational. If I had to pick individuals from my earlier
    days in EMS, I'd say Doug Major (PAC) and Dwayne Forsman (Manitoba Prehospital
    Professions Association – or MPPA – the professional association at the time in
    Manitoba) were real leaders in the development of our profession. Much of the
    success we are seeing today was initiated and advocated by them years ago in
    their work with PAC and the MPPA.
    
    5. Please
    provide a brief description of your career.
    
    I began my EMS career with a volunteer ambulance service in
    Sanford, licensing first as an ambulance operator, then an EMR and finally an
    EMT. While still volunteering and managing that service, I joined the
    provincial EMS licensing examination team, which provided me an excellent
    opportunity to meet many of the very dedicated EMS personnel working throughout
    Manitoba in both urban and rural services. In 2001 I was elected PAM Chair and
    became involved with PAC as the Manitoba Director. I've worked with my current
    employer in casual, part-time and full-time positions since the responsibility
    for provision of emergency medical services was transferred to the regional
    health authorities just over 10 years ago.
    
    6. What
    is your most memorable situation while on the job?
    
    Wow, it's hard to pick a single
    event or situation. I'll always remember the reaction of our local crew
    following their first successful defibrillation of a cardiac arrest with the
    SAED that we purchased through a local fundraising initiative. And I won't
    forget the day we pitched our plan to the regional health authority suggesting
    they move our ambulance service a few miles down the road and staff it on a
    full-time basis rather than close it down as they had originally proposed...and
    they agreed! I've also had tremendous opportunities in my work with PAM and PAC
    to meet and learn from so many of our colleagues across the country.
    
    7. What's
    the biggest challenge facing EMS today?
    
    Identity: Recognition that
    paramedics are first and foremost healthcare providers, despite our work being
    often done in the environment of public safety. This profession is very young,
    but has seen tremendous evolution in its short life, very much driven by the
    growing needs of our health-care system. We have to embrace health care as our
    foundation, challenge ourselves to meet the regulatory demands placed on other
    health-care professionals, and continue to inform bureaucrats, politicians and
    health policy makers about the growing education and abilities that paramedics
    bring to the table.
    
    8. If
    you could change one thing in EMS, what would it be?
    
    Paramedicine would be
    self-regulating in all jurisdictions across the country. Paramedic practice has
    evolved and a specialized body of knowledge has developed such that members of
    the profession are in the best position to set standards and ensure these
    standards are met.
    
    9. What's
    your favourite tool/technology available to EMS professionals and why?
    
    Research! Evidence-based medicine
    is at the forefront of system design and management, and paramedics have the
    opportunity to not only participate but also direct much of the research in
    prehospital emergency health care. Research in EMS has tremendous potential to
    expand scopes of clinical practice for paramedics in prehospital and community
    settings.
    
    10. What
    does the future of EMS look like?
    
    As our population ages and demands
    on our health-care system continue to mount, it becomes more and more important
    that policy makers think outside the box and embrace paramedics as partners in
    their health-care teams. We see examples of this in many regions of Canada
    today, and I think it will only continue to grow. Our scope of practice has
    grown considerably over the past two decades - if we're able to accept and expand
    our professional responsibilities I believe our roles will expand as well.
    
    11. Paramedics
    see a lot of strange things in their work. What's the funniest thing you've
    witnessed in EMS?
    
    Very early in my career we
    responded to a highway motor vehicle collision with unknown injuries. As we
    approached the scene we noticed a damaged car still on the highway and a
    half-ton truck on its wheels in the ditch. While my partner attended to the car
    I approached the truck. The driver was conscious with what appeared to be
    relatively minor injuries. Of greatest concern to him, however, was the health
    of his passenger still seated beside him; a very young calf! Although the calf
    had not been wearing a seatbelt, it appeared to have come through the event
    unscathed. The driver was immobilized and transported to hospital, but not
    before we promised to ensure his passenger would be well cared for.
    
    12. What
    do you do when you're not working?
    
    I enjoy golfing and bike riding in
    the summer and curling in the winter. My wife and I have started travelling a
    bit more, and have made it a priority to see as much of our own great country
    as we can over the next few years.

EMS Profile: Andrew Moffat

EMSNews.com — Tue, 10 Nov 2009

What's your current position?
I am finally retired - after a series of professions; military, animal genetics, rancher and EMS. Now my days are filled with golf, authoring books and enjoying great grandchildren.

When did your first job commence as an EMS professional?
In 1979. For the first three months I was an advanced first aider, then an EMT and finally, in later years, an EMT-P.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in EMS? We were ranching in the West Country in Alberta where there were neither doctors nor clinics. At that time the north-south Highway 22 had not been completed, so access to both Sundre and Rocky Mountain House hospitals was restricted most of the year. Our nearest hospital and doctors were in Innisfail - approximately 65 kilometres away. One Saturday evening at a legion dance a comrade dropped with a heart attack and there weren't even first aiders to help him. That is when I decided to start an ambulance service. That was not easy as no one outside of the community was prepared to give advice or assistance - and most certainly not for free! (I was given ‘advisory' quotes in the thousands of dollars!)

Even the minister of hospitals stated in writing that we did not need a service as the Alberta Air Ambulance (which did not exist at that time) was the finest in Canada and served our area well! St. John Ambulance said they would train eight of our volunteers for $2,800 and take about 11 months to run the courses. When I threatened to go on television and express my views of their position, they recanted and ran the first aid and CPR courses within 10 days and only charged $225.

Who was the biggest inspiration to you when you were first starting in EMS?
Bill Coghill, without question. Bill was managing Edmonton at the time, but he went out of his way to help in acquiring excellent equipment and vehicles and in giving sound advice. On the training and ethical side, Ron McManus was a solid inspiration throughout our development.

Please provide a brief description of your career.
Following high school I had my commission as a Captain in the Militia. In 1946 I joined the Regular Army as a Gunner (high class Private!) in the Artillery. About 18 months later I was selected to attend the Naval College at Royal Roads - the first person from the Army Ranks to be chosen. I then attended the Royal Military College and on graduation I married and left from my honeymoon to spend 13 months in the Korean War.

In my 32 years of service I had excellent postings throughout Canada, Germany, Italy and Korea. My final posting was as CO of Base Calgary. I retired from Calgary and bought a small ranch west of Caroline, Alberta where we conducted a sheep genetics program as a follow-on program run by a Sundre-area family.

After starting the ambulance service and running it as a teaching/volunteer service, there was not time to continue the ranching operation, so we concentrated on the ambulance service, dedicating about 90 hours each week! On my 77th birthday I decided it was time to let others pick up teenagers from the roadside, and retired to Red Deer.

My wife Daphne, daughter Kathleen, and son Chris all became EMTs as well. I now have 19 books in print, and I hope time to write many more. Themes range from historical fiction, to mystery, to love stories. What is your most memorable situation while on the job? There are a great many, including the Pine Lake Tornado. The most satisfying was probably seeing to the delivery of five-week premature breech twins - and then seeing them on their sixth birthdays when they entered Grade 1.

What's the biggest challenge facing EMS today?
EMS personnel are not employed to their capacity! There should be openings in hospitals and clinics. We are short of RNs and yet ignore the skills and education of paramedics. Both EMTs and EMT-Ps have the capability for skills and practices well beyond those currently permitted in most provinces. Together with this, nation-wide standards and portability are, in the long run, imperative. Had we run a long-term PR program, as fire has done, we - and the public - would be in an infinitely better position today.

If you could change just one thing in EMS, what would that be?
False pride! Our EMS personnel are good; the best in the world. They do not need to flaunt their skills before the public and certainly not to each other. As a national team we are the best there is - as a fractured, competitive bunch of groups we only diminish ourselves and reduce our public image (including before our medical counterparts), We are in every sense a "profession" but we still have far too many personnel who fail to act and perform as such. A national medal and ribbon for communication personnel should be created. Most would not qualify for the EMS ESM because they have not served for 10 years in a capacity of risk. This is a huge oversight.

What's your favorite tool/technology available to EMS professionals and why?
The ‘needle' - it is through the catheter that we exercise most impact on our patients' survivability. Other equipments may give us guidance or allow us contact with senior advisors, but in the final analysis it is most often the administration of a life saving fluid or drug that really matters.

What does the future of EMS look like?
Our future is, regrettably, in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians who are neither medically knowledgeable, nor interested in acting for the long run - beyond the immediate emergency/election - solutions.

Until we can convince politicians, bureaucrats and emergency physicians to do extensive ride-alongs, there will never be an adequate knowledge base for our full development.

What's the funniest thing you've witnessed in EMS?
The most humorous was stopping on the highway at 10 a.m. to help a chap doing CPR on a lady by the ditch - only to find they were not doing CPR!

What do you do when you're not working?
Play 18 holes of golf three times a week. Write books on a wide range of subjects. Write nasty letters to the editor and my MP. Travel to visit family - four children, 20 grandchildren and five great grandchildren (four more in the offing!).

To suggest an EMS professional, past or present, to be profiled in a future issue of CEN, e-mail cen@emsnews.com

EMS Profile: Lynn B Klein

EMSNews.com — Thu, 20 Aug 2009

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What's your current position?
I retired on June 29, 2006 but continue to work part time in the Vancouver Island Communication Centre for the British Columbia Ambulance Service. My role in the centre is as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD).

When did your first job commence as an EMS professional?
I began my EMS career in December of 1967 in Calgary, AB working for Starr's Ambulance Service (not to be confused with the current STARS air ambulance presently operating).

Why did you decide to pursue a career in EMS?
I did not choose this career. It chose me. I literally became involved in EMS by accident. I was tuning a friend's motorcycle when a car struck me. My leg was fractured and Starr's Ambulance picked me up. En route to hospital the medics found out I had a B.C. industrial first aid ticket and said they were desperately looking for qualified people. I was working in the oil patch at the time making huge money but with a leg in a cast I was out for the time so I gave EMS a shot by working in the Starr's call centre (well, actually it was more like a call closet). I became hooked on wanting to help people in need.

Who was the biggest inspiration to you when you were first starting in EMS?
A person now deceased by the name of Bob Connolly. Bob was with Starr's for many years, and we took up an instant friendship. It was Bob who encouraged me to become a medic. Even at a $1.35 per hour the idea had a very strong pull. Over my 42 years, many others locally, nationally and internationally have dramatically influenced my personal and professional life.

Please provide a brief description of your career.
• 1967-1968 Starr's Ambulance Calgary, AB.
• 1968-1969 Universal Ambulance Service and Arron Ambulance and Resuscitation Service in Calgary, AB.
• 1970-1972 Garden City Ambulance Service Victoria, B.C.
• In 1973, I spent almost the entire year doing a research project for the Government of B.C. on the creation of a provincial ambulance service with my colleague Larry Tuttle. We submitted a report entitled Twice an Orphan.
• From 1974 to present, I have been with the British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS). During my career I have held positions as a paramedic, paramedic instructor, the first superintendent of media and public relations for the BCAS, and I have presented at local, national and international conferences. I have also written many articles for EMS publications.

What is your most memorable situation while on the job?
On December 25, 1972 with my partner George Moffat, I delivered twin girls. I have other memories, but like many events in EMS they are memorable for all the wrong reasons.

What's the biggest challenge facing EMS today?
It is a lack of funding and lack of public perception of the vital role EMS plays in both public safety and public health. While we have perhaps moved from being an orphan of public safety and health EMS, with few exceptions, still does not command the same level of attention our colleagues in fire and law enforcement are accorded by politicians and the public. If you need to see an example of what I'm speaking of, take a look at the fire and police stations in your city or community, then take a look at where many EMS crews are housed.

Fire and police have the World Police and Fire Games. EMS/EHS (unless attached to a fire or police agency) is exempt from such a high profile event. There are endless examples of how police and fire have captured the attention of their public and political masters, including wages and benefits.

If you could change one thing in EMS, what would it be?
It is actually on the same topic by two items. The title of "dispatcher" should be changed to emergency medical resource coordinator (EMRC). The title "dispatcher" is long passed as a reference of what is done in a modern EMS communication centre. It is like using "ambulance driver" to describe the role of present day paramedics. The other change is still about communications.

A national medal and ribbon for communication personnel should be created. Most would not qualify for the EMS ESM because they have not served for 10 years in a capacity of risk. This is a huge oversight.

What's your favourite tool/technology available to EMS professionals and why?
The Internet. Through this medium all of us in the EMS profession can keep up to date and find out almost instantly about virtually anything we need to know about our profession, past and present and even some great ideas for the future. It is also a huge source of information about EMS from all over the world. However, I still greatly enjoy journals such Canadian Emergency News and other printed materials.

What does the future of EMS look like?
It will greatly depend on how well the EMS profession entrenches itself in the minds of our political and health care leaders, and the general public. Perception becomes reality in the mind's eye.

Paramedics see a lot of strange things in their work. What's the funniest thing you've witnessed in EMS?
It was during the 1993 Vancouver Interphase conference. The conference occurred the same time as the Clinton –Yeltsin summit. As part of the public display, the BCAS landed one of its Bell 222 medevac choppers at the museum across from the conference hotel in Vancouver. This was a restricted air space and caused a horde of secret service and other law enforcement personnel to descend on the site as the chopper was landing. As the chopper got lower to the huge water fountain and cherry trees in full blossom the rotor wash caused a huge mist from the fountain mixed with cherry blossoms blown from the trees and deposited them on a large group of secret service men dressed in black. They looked at each other in amazement, or shock, not sure which, and promptly left the area, no questions asked.

What do you do when you're not working?
I am the proud parent of five grown children, six grandchildren and one great grandchild. The only real thing in life is family. Much of my time is spent with family. I also derive great enjoyment from designing special pins and insignia for various organizations, including most of the insignia and special pins for the BCAS. I'm an avid cyclist, and work out most every day as part of my general lifestyle. Keeping in shape is one of the most important aspects of maintaining a long career in EMS.

EMS Profile: Michael McKeage

EMSNews.com — Sat, 11 Jul 2009

EMS profile Michael McKeage
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1. What’s your current position?
Director of Clinical Development and Disaster Planning for Emergency Health Services Nova Scotia.

2. When did your first job commence as an EMS professional?
In the spring of 1977 I was offered the position of emergency vehicle operator with the Ambulance Division of the City of Calgary Fire Department. After a taking a six-week course I graduated as an EMT—a new concept at that time—in Alberta. Prior to this I had volunteered in emergency rooms in both the Ottawa General Hospital (1971 to 1973) and Victoria General Hospital in Halifax (1974 to 1977) starting at age 16.

3. Why did you decide to pursue a career in EMS?
The emergency department of the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax in the early ‘70s was a truly unique and energized environment, consisting of emergency room physicians who had been to America (BTA), and emergency room nurses recruited from around the world. These personalities, combined with their passion for learning, as well as the hospital-based ambulance driver attendants, drew me to the field. The stark contrast between the competence and caring provided by this hospital-based ambulance service compared to that provided by many of their private contemporaries fueled my passion to see a better level of prehospital care come to Nova Scotia one day.

4. Who was the biggest inspiration to you when you were first starting in EMS?
Dr. Tony Williams, Dr. Margie Edwards, Dr. Ron Stewart, Paramedics Anne Slaunwhite, George Porter, Paul Morck, Bill McComb, Ron McManus, Nurses Nancy Lynch, Jan Foster, Nancy Kline, and Sister Marthe du Sauveur were all huge influences during the early years of my practice. While unknown to many now, all possessed three remarkable qualities. First, they all possessed a fierce commitment to patient care and advocacy. Second, all continually demonstrated a constant dedication to learning and a commitment to teaching others. Finally, none took joy in the behaviour known today as “dissing” associates. They build their greatness on their work, not the weaknesses of others or by putting down colleagues or associates.

5. Please provide a brief description of your career.
I graduated from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1979 with Honours and enjoyed two subsequent years of downtown practice with what was known then as the City of Calgary Fire Department Ambulance Division. During this time I developed a love of teaching, through my work with the Calgary Police Academy. This love would take me to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1981 where Lyle McKellar, Paul Ramer and I would develop NAIT’s first paramedic program. My two years at NAIT taught me how much more there was to learn about paramedicine, so I returned to practice in Grande Prairie, AB.

Grande Prairie would be my first experience in a rural practice and hospital-based system. Unlike the heavily resourced Calgary system, in Grande Prairie paramedics did it all—ground transportation, vehicle rescue, air medical rescue and transport. My curiosity about EMS management would be explored in 1986 as a natural evolution because of my predisposition to build things and systems. The creation of Project Outbound, teaching ACLS to non-traditional groups and working with the Registered Emergency Paramedic Association of Alberta, served me well as I began as assistant director for the Grand Prairie Ambulance Service.

My background in education and hospital accreditation experience acquired in Grande Prairie would allow me to accept a position with the Calgary EMS Department in 1988 overseeing their Clinical Quality, Continuing Medical Education, and PR and Safety program for that department. The City of Calgary’s staff development program would open doors to more teaching, as well as board positions with what was known then as the Alberta Ambulance Operators Association and the Alberta Prehospital Professions Association. In addition, I was able to finish my degree from Dalhousie and acquire a certificate in adult education from St. Francis Xavier University. These blessings would in turn lead to independent consulting contracts for several provinces and EHS organizations, as well as international speaking engagements.

The passion to return home to Halifax and assist with the long-awaited overhaul of the Nova Scotia Ambulance Service was realized in 1997 when I returned to Nova Scotia to consult and assist in the implementation of the Murphy Plan as the director of Ground Ambulance and First Responder Programming for the Nova Scotia Department of Health. Since 1999 I have worked for the ambulance contractor in Nova Scotia having the privilege of being the director of operations for that organization during the first nine years of its existence. I have been a board member of the Emergency Medical Services Chiefs of Canada, an advisor to Health Canada and a member of the Canadian Medical Association Committee on Conjoint Accreditation.

6. What is your most memorable situation while on the job?
Hurricane Juan—I lost one of my staff on my watch, that night. Paramedic John Rossiter, an excellent teacher, was killed by a falling tree. John’s death was one incident that taught us all how fast the end can come in our line of work. Equally memorable was the outpouring of support, kindness and love from the public and paramedics from all across Canada during our hour of need. We Nova Scotia paramedics will always be grateful for that caring.

7. What’s the biggest challenge facing EMS today?
As a profession, I truly believe we have to figure out what we want to be “when we grow up” very soon. Paramedics over the last 37 years have been trained in varied and sometimes controversial processes from technical institutes, to colleges, and now even stand alone schools. Paramedics have experienced many types of full-time, part-time, distance and online educational programming—most without ever darkening the doors of Medical School or the Health Science faculty. The end result has been that many paramedics today graduate only with technical skills without education on what the Canada Health Act is, how to define health, how to conduct research or how to analyze the changing needs of their communities. If we compare the evolution of our educational and formation processes in the last 20 years to other health care professionals, I see us severely lacking and stuck in the paradigm, described by a wise paramedic faculty member as “thinking only with our hands.”

8. If you could change one thing in EMS, what would it be?
Change the title of EMS to EHS (Emergency Health Services), and embrace and celebrate the significance of that one letter change. It was not until I arrived in Nova Scotia that I saw what could truly be done when paramedics were engaged not as a public safety service but as members of the health care team. In my opinion, it is only when we have successfully infiltrated and have become full partners in our area/district/regional health care team that we will be able to evolve to the next level of professional activities and innovation.

9. What’s your favorite tool/technology available to EMS professionals and why?
With apologies to my communication colleagues for classifying them as a “tool/ technology” I truly believe that medical communication centres have been underutilized for too long. I see a future where the communications officer truly becomes the third partner on each call. Communication officers could provide things that far exceed what is currently being done in many areas, including call response planning, pre-arrival clinical coaching and health resource gatekeeper services. The enhanced use of CAD technology as a syndromic and injury surveillance tool is another example of how the resources and expertise of these centres could be further engaged.

10. What does the future of EMS look like?
As I look back over the last 32 years of my Canadian ALS experience I do not see the academic development of practitioners, field innovations or research in my profession that I see in sister professions such as diagnostic imaging, respiratory therapy, or the nursing profession. As of this date we still do not have a national definition of what a paramedic is. Despite this, the development of a national registration exam will soon be driven by external influences as the need for international registration becomes increasingly apparent, and as Canada’s paramedic human resources dwindle.

The increased demand for service performance, better ROI equations for monies provided to EHS systems and the generational needs of paramedics will eventually cause EMS to develop more non-traditional services, which in turn will see credential bridging programs into other health professions as we now see in Australia. We will see increasing international sharing of solutions and cooperation in EHS as we begin to realize how easily accessible sources of wisdom and experience are for the price of a phone call. Lastly, we will increasingly have to think for ourselves as we fall under self-regulating legislation. In the near future, all Canadian paramedics will have to set our own codes of conduct, criteria for our college’s membership and ensure we protect patients from practitioners ill-prepared to care for them. No longer will we be able to be dependent on medical directors for this type of judgment.

11. Paramedics see a lot of strange things in their work. What’s the funniest thing you’ve witnessed in EMS?
The look face on my preceptor’s face when his bare feet hit the lobster I had placed in the bottom of his bed, on my last night of practicum, still ranks as a very memorable moment that I thought was funny.

12. What do you do when you’re not working?
My Creator has blessed me with my wife Lynne and our three very special children Christina, Matthew and Micah. In my time off I try to repay the debt I have incurred to them, over the years of countless hours away, on call, etc.

EMS Profile: Bruce Farr

EMSNews.com — Sun, 17 May 2009

Chief and General Manager, Toronto Emergency Medical Services.

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When did your first job commence as an EMS professional?
I had a summer job in 1972 working for Ogdens Ambulance Service, operated from a funeral home, in Scarborough, ON. Then in December 1972, I began my full-time employment as an ambulance attendant.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in EMS?
It certainly wasn’t for the pay—$1.44 per hour! In all seriousness, though, I think what drew me to this career was the good feeling it gave me to help others and to be looked upon as someone who could help people and their families at their time of greatest need. Also, the job itself was interesting because every call was different.

Who was the biggest inspiration to you when you were first starting in EMS?
A number of people have inspired me throughout my career in EMS, each for different reasons. In my early years, the senior medics inspired me because of their experience and coolness on the job—and I wanted to be like them. Then, about three years into my career, I met Fred Abel, training manager for the Department of Ambulance Services (DAS) in Toronto. Fred took me under his wing and I was so inspired by him that I made the move from Ogdens to DAS. The EMS profession is full of great people who just want to help others and do the best they can. Now, that’s inspiring!

Please provide a brief description of your career.
In my 37 years in EMS, I have been fortunate to have had a number of roles, from paramedic and supervisor through to manager, deputy chief and my current position as chief of the largest EMS service in Canada.
Each of these has provided different opportunities and challenges. While a supervisor, the highlight was my three-year assignment to the Commissioner’s Office. Then, during my tenure as manager of EMS Education, Toronto EMS implemented one of Canada’s first Advanced Life Support Paramedic Programs. While I was deputy chief of EMS Operations, Toronto hosted the G7 Summit, the Papal Visit and World Youth Days. Then there were the challenges of the SARS crisis, the Blackout of 2004 and the Air France crash, all of which I have had the privilege of speaking about at international emergency service conferences.

I was honoured to receive the Canadian Governor General’s EMS Award for Exemplary Service as well as the St. John Ambulance Priory Award, in recognition for my contributions to EMS. I also have the privilege of representing EMS services across Canada as president of the EMS Chiefs of Canada (EMSCC), a position I have held since 2006. Through the EMSCC, I am involved in multi-level government awareness campaigns on EMS, both nationally and internationally.

What is your most memorable situation while on the job?
Calls can be memorable for many different reasons: An especially challenging extrication, an unusual patient presentation or dynamic cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, the common link is that it usually represents the worst day in the patient’s life.

One of my most memorable calls was for a home birth. It was my first home delivery, and my partner that day had thoughtfully stepped aside as we approached the door so that I could be the first one to enter the room.

I remember the joy of helping to bring a new life into the world. The father was so grateful that he included our names in the birth announcement in the paper, and that was very gratifying.

What’s the biggest challenge facing EMS today?
We face many challenges, and one of them is the ability to continue to meet the needs of a growing, diverse community while ensuring a sustainable future for EMS systems. In other words, we must expand the role of EMS beyond transport to the nearest emergency department to develop and implement alternate methods of service delivery to best meet the needs of our diverse communities and the growth in demand for our service.

If you could change one thing in EMS, what would it be?
The provision of adequate and sustainable funding to ensure EMS systems are supported based on the true demands and real needs in each community. This would also support the development and implementation of innovative programs, such as community paramedicine.

What’s your favourite tool/technology available to EMS professionals and why?
It seems to me that almost everyday, someone has a new tool or gizmo to assist us in our work. It could be for vehicles, patient care, safety, data management, etc. The Bluetooth-capable defibrillator is my favourite because it allows us to capture data, in real time, via tablet PCR and transmit key portions of that data, such as a 12 Lead ECG, to a physician’s Blackberry miles away. In addition, the associated database has an incredible impact on our ability to do prehospital research and set future trends in patient care.

What does the future of EMS look like?
You just need to look back 25 years to see what we have done. I think the future of EMS looks exciting and full of opportunities for EMS professionals to play a significant role in the Canadian health care system. In so many ways, we have become more than just a ride to the hospital.
Paramedics see a lot of strange things in their work. What’s the funniest thing you’ve witnessed in EMS?

In my 37 years in EMS, there have been too many stories to pick just one. EMS work can often be a grim business and a sense of humour is essential. All emergency responders need to take the time to look at the lighter side of life.

What do you do when you’re not working?
I spend as much time as I can with my family and in particular, with my grandsons. My most favourite thing to do is arguably the most difficult thing for me to do and that is to just take a walk and not think about EMS.