National EMS Week is May 18-25 in Canada
Paramedics can often be seen as those unsung heroes of everyday society; those go-between people who are first on the scene with police and firefighters and who ensure a safe transport to a local medical facility.
When there's an emergency, we call the police. When we're not feeling well, we call the hospital.
But when we're incapacitated and vulnerable, that's when paramedics and the work they do in providing emergency medical services (EMS) come into the picture.
May 18 to May 24 marks National EMS Week in Canada, providing an opportunity to spotlight the vital importance of such staff and personnel.
When we touch on the importance of these workers, it's vital to understand the workload they endure on a yearly basis. Taking a look at the local numbers, these are the volumes in which local EMR (emergency medical responders) are tasked with on average year after year.
Beechy EMS - Responders for the village of Beechy and surrounding area report to 75 to 100 calls per year, with one ambulance.
Dinsmore EMS - Responders for the village of Dinsmore and surrounding area report to 50 to 75 calls per year, with one ambulance.
Outlook EMS - This local service perhaps stands out more with its numbers, as responders for the town of Outlook and surrounding area report to 350 to 400 calls per year, with three ambulances.
In addition to their daily and nightly duties, EMS do their part in reaching out to their communities and providing services to educate the public in what to do in the event of an emergency. This includes at public attractions such as swimming pool facilities, as could be seen when Outlook EMS staff provided training to staff at the Van Raay and Community Swimming Pool, showing lifeguards what to do and how to operate in emergency situations.
Around the province, there are said to be an estimated 1,850 paramedics that are licensed in Saskatchewan at a number of different levels: Primary Care, Intermediate Care, Advanced Care, and Critical Care. In addition to these numbers, the province also licenses approximately 435 Emergency Medical Responders (EMR).
For anyone who has ever been curious about the job, perhaps there was no better avenue for truly seeing what being a paramedic can be like than the reality television series, 'Paramedics: Emergency Response', which ran for seven seasons on CityTV Saskatchewan between 2018 and 2023. The show followed emergency personnel teams from Saskatoon's Medavie Health Services West as they responded to calls ranging from minor mishaps to life-threatening situations. The show wasn't afraid to show the dark side of reality when people are in need of medical help, and taking place on the west side of Saskatoon, it also shone a light on the struggles with drugs and poverty that people can find themselves facing on a daily basis.
National EMS Week this year carries a theme of 'We Care. For Everyone'. With this annual week-long celebration being the 51st edition, having marked a special anniversary of 50 years in 2024, perhaps it would be interesting to read a report of what the EMS field may look like in 25 years.
Provided by EMSWeek.org, enjoy 'The Future of EMS: A Glimpse Into 2050':
'As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of EMS Week with the theme, “Honoring Our Past, Forging Our Future,” it seems a fitting time to take a glimpse into the future of EMS. Although the future is always uncertain, a specific vision for the nation’s EMS systems was laid out in 2019, the result of a collaborative effort by leaders throughout the EMS community. The resulting plan was built around principles designed to guide the advancement of EMS, even as technologies and best practices evolve. EMS Agenda 2050 describes what the country’s EMS systems could look like in the year 2050. It imagines an exciting future built upon advanced technologies and an expanded scope of practice, yet one that remains people-centered. A future that could look something like this:
It’s Sunday, May 22, 2050, and 9-year-old Carla Hernandez walks into the backyard, taking care not to step on the tomato plants just beginning to grow. As she kneels to begin pulling weeds, she feels a sharp pain in her leg and reflexively swings for the bug that might be biting her. A minute later, she suddenly feels lightheaded and sick to her stomach. The wooziness scares her, and the panic is evident in her voice when she calls out to her grandmother for help. Carla’s grandmother hurries outside and finds her granddaughter lying on the grass, pale and gasping for air. Carla’s earring beeps—wearable devices come in almost any shape nowadays—and then a voice comes out of the tiny speaker.
“Carla, Hi, it’s Abdi, a telemedic at the Medical Communication Center. We received an alert that there might be a problem. Are you feeling OK?” Pressing a button on her mobile device, Carla’s grandmother activates the emergency program and Abdi’s face appears on her screen. “I see her eyes are open,” Abdi says.
“Is she responding to you?” “No, and her breathing doesn’t sound good either. Please help! I don’t know what to do.” Abdi continues to speak to Carla’s grandmother while monitoring the young girl’s vital signs.
Soon, a familiar voice calls out that he’s here to help, and Carla’s grandmother recognizes one of her neighbors as he walks around the corner of the house to the backyard. A retired respiratory therapist, he is a registered community medical volunteer and received a notification at home that a serious medical emergency was occurring nearby. Carla’s grandmother waves him over, just as an emergency medical kit drone lands safely a few yards away. She feels her heart pounding in her chest as she watches her neighbor talk to Abdi and quickly access the medication administrator from the drone. He programs the device to epinephrine and sticks it on Carla’s arm. It quickly reassesses her vital signs, weight and other parameters and administers the calculated appropriate dose…
While we’re not certain what the year 2050 will look like, we can agree that EMS could look very different by then. EMS Agenda 2050 is an inspiring take on what lies ahead in EMS, and it lays out how EMS professionals can forge the future together. The actions we take as clinicians and EMS leaders can help make the vision a reality. It’s the people of EMS: patients and communities, the people who care for them, and the people who support those clinicians—who will lead the way toward 2050.'
Regardless of the year on the calendar, be it present day or decades from now, paramedics and emergency responders will always be those vital personnel who can often mean the difference between life and death for many people.
For anyone wishing to learn more about a career in the EMS field, you can check out information on the College of Paramedics in Saskatchewan by going to .
