Who Are You Going to Call?

In an emergency who are you going to call? Your mom, a co-worker, the neighbor across the street or even a parent. As strange as it might sound people do not often call paramedics first but hope someone else can offer assistance. Yes, first aid can be life-saving to stop the bleeding, start the breathing or preform CPR, but paramedics are the out of hospital professionals you need quickly at any emergency.

Next week is a very special for a group of people that rarely are ever seen. The week of April 8-14 is National Emergency Telecommunicators Week.

When you call 9-1-1 the 9-1-1 operator will quickly transfer your call to a telecommunication specialist who starts giving you help right over the phone. This does not happen in the 9-1-1 center but in one of three regional communication centers in Prince Albert, Saskatoon or Regina. In Prince Albert behind a locked door sits some really special people.

These telecommunications specialists at Parkland Ambulance Care handle over 25,000 calls annually. Expertly handle multiple emergency calls from folks not only in Prince Albert but much of northern/central Saskatchewan. Our communications specialists also might talk to a tourist in a collision in LaRonge, a frantic mom in Tisdale or someone in need of help in Pelican Narrows. Using state of the art and very sophisticated computer technology, our communications personnel expertly handle multiple calls at once. The incident might require rural first responders, police, fire services or other resources.

All this has to be coordinated in a timely fashion. Plus the telecommunications specialists need to be alert to subtle things like people arguing in the background from a caller who says someone has been assaulted. A child might call for help because a parent lies motionless at the bottom of some stairs and they are very frightened. A bystander trying their best to perform CPR and someone is gone to get the AED. All these situations are very real for the busy career telecommunication specialists in our regional communications center.

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The voice who you talk to is trained to give you the best possible assistance they can but these heroes are human too. At the end of your situation another awaits and with the skill of a symphony conductor, our team makes sure the paramedics and other resources arrive safely. During the week of April 8-14, we salute all our telecommunication specialists but also say thank you to the police and 9-1-1 communicators too. These agencies also play an important role in your safety. Beyond the telephone there is a great team of telecommunicators at Parkland Ambulance Care ready and able to assist you in your time of need! Congratulations to our awesome communications team members.

The week of April 15-21 is National Volunteer Week. Parkland Ambulance Care has over 60 men and women who in 2017 donated over 1200 hours to the community. From hockey games to street fairs, judo tournaments to school visits, Parkland Ambulance has some of the busiest and hardest working volunteers in the community. Thank you for the many things you do for the community. Congratulations to the 1000s of other community volunteers who support everything from schools to churches, scouts or guides to community theatre and more!!! So many groups and events would not exist without great volunteers. Thank you Parkland Ambulance paramedics and communications personnel. Your volunteer commitment is outstanding. Happy volunteer week, April 15-21 everyone!