It is Paramedic Services Week and the RPPEO would like to acknowledge and honor the hard work and dedication of the paramedics of Eastern Ontario. Over the past year more has been asked of paramedics than ever before, and you have answered the call. Every day you respond to calls for help from the ill and injured. Each call for service is made by someone who sees or feels a problem they believe they cannot manage on their own, and there is a noble place in history for those who come to help.

Whether it is providing life-saving treatment for an illness or injury, symptom relief for discomfort, palliation at the end of life, or helping a low-acuity patient navigate the system safely through treat-and-discharge and treat-and-refer, you have stepped up to advocate for your patients in creative and innovative ways in a strained system.  You are embracing a paradigm shift in paramedicine. The profession is transitioning from a public safety model to a comprehensive health care practitioner model. No transition is easy, and you have accepted this challenge wholeheartedly, learning and asking questions and making changes to your practice, even when it is not comfortable. In doing so you are advancing the profession and providing safer and more effective care for patients. 

The requests for service don’t stop, and the “thank you’s” can be few and far between. Please know that your skillful care, communication, and acts of kindness do not go unnoticed. Thank you for all that you do, and Happy Paramedic Services Week.