Paramedics week: a job that has changed a lot

On the occasion of Paramedics Week, which will be held from May 22 to 28, a team from TVA Nouvelles spent a few hours on the road with an ambulance supervisor from the Coopérative des technicians ambulanciers du Québec (CTAQ) in Saguenay. .

They are some 5,000 across Quebec. Every day they face the unknown. Every day, they do everything they can to provide care quickly and save lives. Every day, they witness human distress.

After attending the reception of the paramedics and the morning briefing, it was time to hit the road in the company of an ambulance supervisor from the CTAQ in Saguenay.

Ready to intervene at any time, the paramedics are in ambulances at strategic locations throughout the territory of Saguenay.

Illness, road accident, hospital transfer… we hear the calls coming into dispatch.

With the number of interventions constantly increasing, paramedics have busy shifts. At the CTAQ, they answered nearly 16,000 calls in 2021, an increase of 16% compared to 2019.

“This week, I would like to highlight the dedication of our paramedics, our emergency medical dispatchers, as well as the support staff who do essential work for the population, declared François Charpentier the president and general manager of the Corporation d’urgences-santé, the largest ambulance organization in Quebec. Working in the pre-hospital sector is a gift of oneself. Let’s take advantage of this week to recognize their important contribution to society.

“At this time last year, we had just had a difficult year being at the front once morest the pandemic. We did not think that the next one would be so demanding, said Émilie Daoust, paramedic at the Corporation d’urgences-santé. Despite all these hardships, I am proud of what we have accomplished collectively. We will continue to help the population with kindness, it is our number one priority.”

The aging of the population, the increase in psychological distress and mental health problems have greatly changed the profession of paramedic in recent years.

The helping relationship is now an integral part of the daily lives of paramedics.