Despite no major car collisions, it wasn't exactly a restful long weekend for Parkland Ambulance. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Paramedics on Canada Day

Quiet highways but busy weekend for local paramedics

Jul 4, 2022 | 11:00 AM

You’ve likely seen the billboards or the online advertising reminding you that your risk of a car crash doubles on a long weekend. Over the most recent long weekend, however, people appeared to be a little more careful about those risks.

Parkland Ambulance was called out frequently between Canada Day and Monday, but not for car crashes. Drivers, for the most part, were staying safe in this area.

“Long weekends do mean you are twice as likely to be involved in a motor vehicle collision on the busy Saskatchewan highways,” said Lyle Karasiuk, director of public affairs with Parkland Ambulance. “Certainly, it’s not uncommon to respond to a number of motor vehicle collisions. But I can happily report our paramedics did not respond to any major vehicle collisions.”

Long weekends in the summer see any number of things that might increase the risk of a crash. It’s not just the greater number of people on the roads, it’s what those people are bringing with them.

“People are towing things,” Karasiuk said. “You’ll often see a truck, a trailer, and maybe even a boat behind that. For those people travelling, it just means you need to slow down and maybe take a little extra time.”

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The roads may have been relatively safe but that doesn’t mean paramedics were putting their feet up. They found plenty of work elsewhere over the past three days.

“The weekend itself was a very busy weekend for our paramedics,” said Karasiuk. “They responded to over 200 incidents from Friday until 7:00 this morning. Certainly, that makes for a busy time for us and a busy time for our medical communications staff as well.”

According to Karasiuk, paramedics in the Prince Albert area and beyond are often busier in the summer months for the simple reason that they have more people in their service area as people come home from college or come north to cottages. Those people are often more spread out as well, as they take their belongings up to the lake.

“We don’t see one particular call that is more predominant in the summertime than any other time of the year,” Karasiuk said. “We do see way more people because there are more people in our area enjoying our lake country.”

Karasiuk added sometimes on Canada Day and other long weekends in the summer they see more calls involving people who’ve hurt themselves working on summer projects at the lake.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP