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From community events to car crashes - what it means to be a member of EMS

Everyone has seen the flashing lights and heard the sirens of an ambulance as it speeds down the road, but what is it really like to be inside that ambulance? “It's unpredictable.
The first recorded ambulance service in Alberta was in 1901. Today, EMS members provide many services from standby at community events to life saving treatment at crashes.
The first recorded ambulance service in Alberta was in 1901. Today, EMS members provide many services from standby at community events to life saving treatment at crashes.

Everyone has seen the flashing lights and heard the sirens of an ambulance as it speeds down the road, but what is it really like to be inside that ambulance?

“It's unpredictable. We can have a day where there are no calls at all, or a day where we don't get a break for the duration of the shift. It can be anything from doing transfers between Bonnyville and Cold Lake or Bonnyville to Edmonton. It could be doing emergency calls all day.”

For 12 years, Alicia Stone has been working with EMS. Starting out in Lloydminster, she joined the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority EMS eight years ago where she now serves as the Regional Deputy EMS Chief.

“I got into EMS based on an interest in providing medical care in an emergency setting,” said Stone.

Stone explained that the first step in becoming a member of EMS is taking the emergency medical responder course, which can be as short as a two-week college course. From there, registration is required with the Alberta College of Paramedics before moving on to testing to become licensed.

The next level is becoming an EMT, or emergency medical technician. At this point, the practitioner can do more than advanced first aid and can provide basic medications to patients. After obtaining that training, a worker is then able to take a two-year program where they will learn advanced life saving skills in order to become a paramedic.

While the premise of emergency medical services has been around for centuries, it hasn't always been as formal.

According to the Health Quality Council of Alberta, the history of ambulance service can be traced back to biblical times, as long ago as 1500 BC, to the actions of good Samaritans. In the following centuries, the provision of first aid to injured soldiers on the battlefield eventually evolved into having trained medics. Those with training were tasked with providing rapid response to injuries and evacuating the wounded.

The skills and knowledge that were acquired by medics on the battlefield were transferred into daily life following the wars.

In Canada, ambulance services can be dated back to the 1800s when St. John's Ambulance brought first aid training to Quebec. The year 1883 saw the first municipally-based service established in Toronto, with the first recorded ambulance operated by the Toronto Police Force in 1888.

Just over a decade later, in 1901, Alberta had its first organized ambulance service established in Lethbridge. The simple system used a horse-drawn carriage to run to the hospital, pick up a physician, and transport him to the location of an emergency. There are also accounts from the early 1900s describing similar ambulance services in Edmonton.

Despite attempts in the 1980s to pass a provincial bill solely regarding ambulance services, it wasn't until 1994 that the Ambulance Services Act was proclaimed. The Emergency Health Services Act followed it in 2008, outlining the governance and responsibility for the delivery of emergency health services in the province.

Of course, ambulance services have come a long way from hand-fashioned stretchers and horse-drawn carriages. What we now know as EMS includes fully equipped cars offering either basic life support or advanced life support, with a trained team of professionals.

As time has progressed, the roles of EMS staff have also changed.

“We do medical response, so if somebody needs medical assistance at home or at work. We do standbys at community events, so sometimes you'll see us at football games or rodeos. We also do transports, so if the hospital needs stable patients, or critically ill or injured patients sent to Edmonton we will do the ground transport for them,” explained Stone.

She added, “On a daily basis, we're in the station doing unit checks. We're checking our trucks to make sure they're mechanically ready, checking our equipment, our medications to make sure they're not expired and in stock, and checking our batteries are all charged up.”

Here in Bonnyville, the EMS falls under the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority. The primary response area covers approximately 2,700 sq. miles from Glendon to Ardmore, La Corey and south to Kehewin First Nations. They serve a population of over 25,000.

After moving to a centralized dispatch system, local EMS workers also serve communities between Bonnyville and Edmonton.

In 2014, they averaged 258.7 calls per month with a call volume of over 2,300 for the year.

Answering the calls for service is a team of around 40 EMRs, EMTs, and paramedics that make up the Bonnyville EMS. Stone noted that a lot of their down time is spent as a team, getting to know each other and strengthening their bonds.

“It's important that we work together because of the nature of our job. It's so unpredictable and can be so traumatizing at times that we just naturally bond together. You need to trust and rely on your partner to get through certain situations and afterwards to debrief.”

It takes a certain characteristic to become an EMS worker, as they subject themselves to more high intensity situations, trauma and unpredictability then most would ever find in their jobs.

With all of the highs and lows, what has kept Stone in it for more than a decade? She expressed it's that desire to help people in an emergency and knowing each day will always be different.

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