Paramedic Services Week is May 24 - 30th this year and we would like to send out a big thank you to all of you on the front lines. You are often the first people we see during an emergency and your calm professionalism in times of stress is phenomenal.

To help our front line workers we need to do our part when we call for help:

When calling 911:

  • Be honest and transparent with the call taker about travel history, close contact, and symptoms. Communication Specialist may take an extra 30-60 seconds to screen you for influenza like illness (ILI) which will screen as COVID-19 positive for our paramedics
  • Paramedics will come even if you are at risk for COVID-19 so please be honest so they can take extra Personal Protective Equipment precautions
  • Give Paramedics 6 feet when they arrive so that they may perform their screening assessment and be honest with them as well
  • If they ask you to put on a surgical mask, please do so if you are able

Remember that everyone’s safety is the number one concern. Everything may take a little more time right now but it’s to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved.Paramedics are taking extra measures to protect you, please help us and do the same. See more at https://www.paramedicchiefs.ca/.

Sadly, we missed the“Touch the Trucks” event this year, but you can still introduce your children to EMT and the ambulance with these non-fiction guides:

  • EMT & Paramedics by Samantha Simon – “EMTs and Paramedics are often the first health-care personnel on the site of an accident where medical attention is needed. EMTs and Paramedics are known to treat 25 to 30 million patients a year. Once an EMT or Paramedic arrives on the scene they will observe the environment, isolate patients, and treat and stabilize them to transport them to the needed medical facility. What does it take to be an EMT or Paramedic? Readers will discover the profession: from the educational requirements, to the day to day tasks, to the developments in the field, as well as all the different job opportunities. “
  • Paramedics by Ruth Daly – “Did you know that paramedics take care of people on the way to the hospital?  Paramedics record what is wrong with people to help doctors treat them. Find out more in Paramedics, from the series People who keep us safe

If you want to learn more about the lifestyle, try these reads:

  • A Thousand Naked Strangers by Kevin Hazzard – “A former paramedic's visceral, poignant, and mordantly funny account of a decade spent on Atlanta's mean streets saving lives and connecting with the drama and occasional beauty that lies inside catastrophe. In the aftermath of 9/11 Kevin Hazzard felt that something was missing from his life—his days were too safe, too routine. A failed salesman turned local reporter, he wanted to test himself, see how he might respond to pressure and danger. He signed up for emergency medical training and became, at age twenty-six, a newly minted EMT running calls in the worst sections of Atlanta. His life entered a different realm—one of blood, violence, and amazing grace. Thoroughly intimidated at first and frequently terrified, he experienced on a nightly basis the adrenaline rush of walking into chaos. But in his downtime, Kevin reflected on how people's facades drop away when catastrophe strikes. As his hours on the job piled up, he realized he was beginning to see into the truth of things. There is no pretense five beats into a chest compression, or in an alley next to a crack den, or on a dimly lit highway where cars have collided.”
  • Confessions of a Trauma Junkie by Sherry Jones Mayo – “Ride in the back of the ambulance with Sherry Jones MayoShare the innermost feelings of emergency services workers as they encounter trauma, tragedy, redemption, and even a little humor. Sherry Jones Mayo has been an Emergency Medical Technician, Emergerncy Room Nurse, and an on-scene critical incident debriefer for Hurricane Katrina. Most people who have observed or experienced physical, mental or emotional crisis have single perspectives. This book allows readers to stand on both sides of the gurney; it details a progression from innocence to enlightened caregiver to burnout, glimpsing into each stage personally and professionally.”

For the paramedic, by a paramedic:

  • The Good, the Bad & the Ugly Paramedic by Tammy Bullard – “Are you still the type of paramedic you had hoped to be when you first set foot inside an ambulance? In the current climate of increasing prehospital demand, it is more important than ever that paramedic standards ensure optimum skill, safety and professionalism. With growing call volumes, public scrutiny, legal liability and employer expectations often creating a sense of overwhelm, the ability to maintain such standards can easily begin to suffer. Find out how to evaluate your own individual practice with a simple, pain scale type approach, so that you remain at the top of your game no matter where you are in your career. Using a conversational and inclusive format, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Paramedic is an easy to follow book. Designed to be picked up, put down and picked back up again at any point, no matter how time poor you may be."
  • To relax after your shift, try an urban fantasy paramedic series by Extreme Medical Services by Jamie Davis -- “Read the book described by one reader as "Like Grimm With Paramedics." Follow the exploits of new paramedic Dean Flynn as he gets assigned to a backwater station no one has ever heard of, Station U. He soon learns that his unusual patients are far from normal. They are the creatures of myth and legend. His tough, experienced paramedic trainer Brynne is determined to teach him everything she knows. With vampires, werewolves, witches and fairies as patients, will he survive? Will they?