PROFESSIONAL PARAMEDIC ASSOCIATION OF OTTAWA 2007 & 2008 IN REVIEW non silba, sed anthar (not for self, but for others) 2007-2008 IN REVIEW PREFACE Welcome to the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa’s “2007—2008 In Review”! As this is our first ever “In Review”, it is long overdue (which is why we included the last 2 years of highlights in one publication). Quite a bit of volunteer work has gone into the writing, editing, publishing, print and finance process. Our hope is to showcase some of the talent, commitment and generosity that our paramedics display throughout the year. Most of this giving is channeled through one of the biggest volunteer organizations in the City of Ottawa — the “Paramedic Association”. In the following pages you will find stories and pictures featuring several events that Ottawa Paramedics participated in during 2007 and 2008. Most of these activities were initiated by members who first booked their individual projects in the Special Events Booking area of OttawaParamedics.ca. From there, we col- lected stories, pictures and other information in an effort to archive the great events that paramedics volunteer for throughout the year. To tie it all in, we also submit semi-annual reports to Ottawa Paramedic Service so volunteer time can be tracked and tallied in public reports. In the coming years, this journal will be essential to a number of Provincial and Federal initiatives the PPAO is working on, including many projects that benefit the community at large. Thank you to everyone who participated in events ranging from school visits to car seat clinics to paramedic week activities. Without your selfless volunteerism, there would be nothing to feature in a yearbook! Keep up the great work! Sue Noel, Advanced Care Paramedic Director of Print Media Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa 300 March Road (4th Floor) Ottawa, ON K2K 2E2 613-244-0333 [email protected] www.OttawaParamedics.ca Cover photo provided by: www.EricGagnon.com 2007 ST. PATRICK’S PARADE Despite the cold wind and treated to a display of freezing rain, four dedi- emergency lights, a PTL cated volunteers braved vehicle and an ambulance the elements to represent decked out in green strip- Ottawa paramedics in the ing, shamrocks and bal- annual St. Patrick’s Day loons. parade. In their yellow raincoats, Rob Wilson, his daughter Bob and Rob were easily Alyssa, Bob Davidson and visible waving to the Rob and Bob show Irish spirit his wife Sue took their crowds of people under the Irish spirit through the very grey skies. streets of downtown Ot- A very big thank you to tawa from City Hall to Rob, Bob, Alyssa and Sue Lansdowne Park. for their time spent at the Parade viewers were St. Patty’s Day parade! Hitching a Ride DID YOU KNOW... • Saint Patrick's real name was Maewyn Succat The proud volunteers • This was the tenth annual St Patty’s parade in Ottawa • The world’s biggest clover contained 14 leaves • 40 pounds of dye are used to turn the Chicago River green every St Patrick’s Day • Saint Patrick was originally from Britain • Many Pubs in Ireland are actually closed on March 17 The light show 2007 HOCKEY TOURNAMENT On February 21st and 22nd This year’s tournament town teams who made the 2007 the University of Ot- was the most successful trip for the two days – tawa arena played host to yet, with $4500 being Sudbury, Timmons, Coch- 12 teams participating in raised and donated be- rane, Peterborough, Sher- the 4th annual PPAO tween the Sebastien Sav- brooke, Durham and Hal- Hockey Tournament. age Fund and our local ton. Helping Every Local Para- After two days of great Last but not least, thanks medic (HELP) fund. hockey, the semi finals to tournament organizers came down to Sherbrooke A special thank you goes Denis Gagnon, Ian Cour- (last year’s champions), out to all the tournament ville, John Shail, Cory Van and three Ottawa teams. sponsors: Molson, Ballistik Delst and Paul Seguin for Hockey, Ontario Medical putting together a success- Like last year, the semi- Supplies, Houle Sports, the ful event yet again. finals were close and Ot- Heart and Crown and sev- tawa required a shootout eral NHL players, including to eliminate Sherbrooke Denis Hamel, Martin St. from the finals by a 3-2 Pierre and Derek Roy. score. The other game saw Corrections beat the Ot- The PPAO would also like tawa Hazards 3-0. to thank volunteers Lisa Shail, Kelly Lacharity, In the exciting final game Sarah Eddy, Shannon Tur- between local rivals, Ot- cotte, Janet O’Keefe, tawa was eventually de- Esther Crawley and Julie feated by Corrections by a Belanger and all the out of World’s Largest Hockey Stick score of 3-2. Eveleth, Minnesota The Winning Corrections team poses with the mini Stanley Cup PARAMEDIC H.E.L.P FUND The end of 2006 saw two fund that would be con- Several Ottawa paramedics of Ottawa’s paramedics tinuously subsidized by have already been recipi- suffer some very serious medics to ensure donations ents of HELP fund dona- injuries in two separate existed for future events. tions. events. This new Helping Every Lo- If you would like your In order to show support cal Paramedic (HELP) fund name added to the list of for our colleagues and their was extremely well re- HELP Fund contributors, families, staff rallied to- ceived by medics. Dona- please fill in a form (found gether and donated funds tions aid in rehabilitation by the PPAO box near the to assist in their treatment and home care, specialized computers at HQ) and this and recuperation. equipment purchases, fam- amount will automatically ily travel expenses, ergo- be deducted concurrently In light of these events, nomic home renovations with the PPAO monthly ACP Steve Hallam decided and many other services dues. to create a permanent do- deemed necessary in the nation fund to help Ottawa The suggested donation is care and treatment of our medics and their families $2 - $5 a month but any own. suffering from a severe ill- amount can be selected. ness or injury in the future. Help Fund Coordinator By committing to this fund, Steve Hallam, Treasurer Previously, seriously in- paramedics & their families Robert Mallett, and Presi- jured medics were sup- will be able to tap into dent Darryl Wilton worked ported on an “as needed” readily available financial together to set up a dona- basis through a wooden help provided by their own tion system to ensure a donation box at headquar- coworkers & friends. continuously funded ac- ters. Each time something count, thus avoiding the For more information about happened, we basically usual inefficient and disor- the HELP Fund, please con- passed a hat around. ganized last minute collec- tact Steve Hallam. Steve decided to create a tion action. [email protected] 2007 VOLUNTEERS If you have ever thought about donating a If you are tired of being referred to as an few hours of your time to your community, “ambulance driver” or being mistaken to the PPAO has many opportunities for you to have the same training as fire fighters, do just that at your convenience. these events are your chance to give the public the correct information about what skills Paramedics provide. You would be surprised at the amount of interest and numerous questions people have when you park your ambulance and display your equipment on a table at a local fair. People ask anything from “can you check my blood pressure” to “what does atropine do”. I haven’t done one event where someone hasn’t come over to say “thanks” to paramedics in general because another medic provided such excellent care to a family member. Sue Noël assesses Councillor Doug Thompson One of the best things about volunteering is dealing with the very inquisitive children. The excitement they have while trying on a The OttawaParamedics.ca website receives Tyvek suit or uniform item is amazing. numerous requests on a daily basis from groups wanting Paramedics to display an ambulance and provide information on a career in Paramedicine. The requests come from many sources, in- cluding elementary schools, high schools, Girl Guides and organizers of community events such as local fairs. Our best efforts are done to accommodate all requests but we need to build a bigger volunteer list to keep up with the growing demand for Paramedics who volunteer their time in the community. These events are extremely important for Catherine Du Puy shows the oxygen kit increasing community awareness of exactly what skills paramedics provide. It is not They love to see what it feels like to be im- uncommon to have local Councillors attend mobilized on a spinal board or have their these events and ask medics several ques- arm bandaged in cling to ‘fake’ a cast. Most tions about our skill set, medications or kids quickly learn how to attach ECG elec- equipment. trodes to their parents just buy figuring out what RA, LA, LL and RL stand for. notice a yellow box in Telestaff for those hours. The PPAO can arrange for more than just a stocked ambulance to ensure your presen- The cumulative volunteer time Ottawa tation is exciting and educational. We have Paramedics put in throughout the commu- an entire multimedia system available for nity has always been very impressive! our paramedics that comes complete with a To add your name to the volunteer list laptop computer, video projector, sound please contact the PPAO today! Code chills out at Sugarfest 2007 system and even has some awesome vid- eos of medics in action as well as TV inter- views featuring paramedics explaining dif- ferent aspects of our job.