Media reports suggest that a paramedic student attending the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) was killed in a single vehicle accident in the Saskatoon area early this morning. It has been reported that the PCP student was on his way to a practicum shift with MD Ambulance when the accident occurred.
Unlikely to be considered a line of duty death, it still comes as a shock to lose another member of the Canadian EMS community. Just days ago Ontario paramedic Paul Patterson was killed in the line of duty while responding in a Rapid Response paramedic unit to a motor vehicle collision near Chatham, Ontario.
Five Canadian paramedics have died in the line of duty in the past ten months. Kim Weitzel and Shawn Currier were killed after responding to an emergency call at a decommissioned mine near Cranbrook, B.C. in May of 2006. Canadian Forces medics Corporal Andrew Eykelenboom and Glen Arnold died while serving our country in Afghanistan in August and September 2006 respectively. Thirty year old Paul Paterson was killed on February 25, 2007.
Twenty-one Canadian paramedics have been killed in the line of duty in only the last 11 years. It's a sobering thought to realize we have had that many deaths in our profession in such a short time.
Please...stay safe!
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