Toronto Paramedic Association

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TRUCK DRIVER CHARGED IN AMBULANCE CRASH THAT CRITICALLY INJURED PARAMEDICS

Provincial police laid serious charges against a transport truck driver in connection to a crash that critically injured two paramedics on a snowy February afternoon.

Just after 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 2, an ambulance was travelling down a rural roadway in Madoc, Ont. when it and a transport truck collided at the intersection of Highway 7 and Highway 62, just north of Belleville.

The serious two-vehicle crash gave two paramedics life-threatening injuries and they were airlifted to a Kingston trauma centre.

As a result of the investigation, police laid charges against the transport truck driver, Sajeevarnan Balasubramaniam, 34, of Milton. He is facing the offences of:

Dangerous operation causing bodily harm- two counts
Criminal negligence causing bodily harm- two counts
Careless driving causing bodily harm- two counts

The accused is set to appear in a Belleville court on Oct. 1.

FUNDRAISER FOR PARAMEDICS RAISES OVER $300,000

On that cold February day, paramedic partners Mya Nichols and Zoraiz Rehman of Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services were in the ambulance when the collision happened.

According to the fundraiser created by Samantha deHaan, Nichols was driving the ambulance and took “the full force” of the crash with the transport truck. She was unconscious and was later in critical condition in the ICU.

“She suffered multiple small brain bleeds, which have miraculously stopped on their own,” deHaan wrote. “Her intracranial pressures are being closely monitored and remain stable. While there is still uncertainty surrounding the full extent of her injuries, she has already made meaningful progress.”

At the time of the incident, Rehman jumped into action. He was seriously injured but managed to get out of the ambulance, call 9-1-1 and — “in a true testament to his character,” the fundraiser notes —check on the two people who were in the transport truck.

By: Natasha O’Neill
City News Everywhere

DOWNTOWN GUELPH PARAMEDIC STATION TEMPORARILY CLOSED DUE TO MOULD

Following the discovery of mould, city officials closed the downtown paramedic station pending remedial work and follow-up testing.

The station, located on the northeast corner of Fountain and Gordon streets, was shut down on Friday.

“Initial testing confirmed that very low levels of mould were found within the occupied areas of the station and that the health of employees is not threatened,” explained Cliff Eggleton, newly-hired Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service chief, via email.

The decision to close the station was made out of “an abundance of caution,” he added.

“Importantly, there was no operational impact resulting from the closure and no reduction in response capability, as crews seamlessly transitioned to alternate deployment and operating locations over the weekend to ensure uninterrupted service to the community.”

As of Monday, the service is working from the annex beside city hall.

On Saturday, Eggleton said, city management met with union representatives and members of the service’s joint health and safety committee and “reached a consensus that the station would be safe for occupancy based on the available information. However, further testing is required following the completion of remediation work over the coming days,” Eggleton wrote.

The chief said mould was found in a storage area, but Kyle Sablotny, vice-president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union local 231, told GuelphToday mould was found in “several areas of the facility.

The station has a “documented history of water intrusion,” he said via email.

By: Richard Vivian
GUELPHTODAY

PROVINCE CONTINUES TO OFFER INCENTIVES TO TRAIN AND RETAIN PARAMEDICS

As Ontario continues to face healthcare staffing shortages, particularly in rural and Northern communities, the province is maintaining efforts to recruit and retain more frontline healthcare professionals through targeted funding initiatives such as the Learn and Stay Grant.

Among the professions seeing continued demand are paramedics, who remain an essential part of Ontario’s emergency healthcare system. Across many communities, increasing call volumes, population growth, emergency room pressures, and workforce shortages have intensified the need for additional trained Primary Care Paramedics.

To help address these shortages, the Ontario government introduced the Learn and Stay Grant program, aimed at encouraging students to pursue healthcare training in underserved regions while helping remove financial barriers to education. Under the program, eligible students enrolled in approved healthcare programs, including Primary Care Paramedic training at participating institutions, may receive funding that covers tuition, books, and other direct educational costs.

In exchange, students agree to work in an eligible underserved or Northern Ontario community after graduation for a period of time tied to the length of their funded studies. The initiative has been positioned as part of a broader provincial strategy to strengthen healthcare staffing capacity while improving long-term retention in regions that have historically faced recruitment challenges.

Northern Ontario communities in particular continue to experience difficulty attracting and retaining healthcare professionals across several sectors, including emergency medical services. Workforce observers note that programs tied to regional retention are becoming increasingly important as healthcare systems attempt to stabilize staffing levels and improve emergency response coverage outside major urban centres.

Paramedics play a critical role in frontline healthcare delivery, responding to medical emergencies, providing urgent patient care, and supporting safe transport within Ontario’s healthcare system.

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ONTARIO INVESTING IN HURON-BRUCE PARAMEDICS

HURON COUNTY – The Ontario government is investing to ensure a quicker local emergency response.

Huron County is set to receive $8,422,813 in provincial funding through the Land Ambulance Response Grant, strengthening emergency care response times, and increasing the availability of local paramedics and ambulances.

Bruce County will get $8,501,286 under that grant as well.

“Every second matters when someone is experiencing a medical emergency, and across Huron-Bruce people need to know that our government continues to invest to ensure help will be available when they need it most,” Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson said. “This investment in Huron and Bruce counties will help support our dedicated paramedics and ambulance services, while reducing delays and ensuring more ambulances are available to respond to 9-1-1 calls.”

The increased funding also allows municipalities to address any inflation in the health sector.

Ontario is also investing $33 million in the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program, hiring medical professionals dedicated to transferring ambulance patients to an emergency department.

As a result of the investments, Ontario’s ambulance offload time has been reduced by 68 per cent since October 2022.

“Our government is making record investments to protect Ontario’s health-care system and connect people to the care they need, where and when they need it. With provincial ambulance offload times declining by nearly 70 per cent since 2022, this shows that our plan is working,” said Minister of Health Sylvia Jones.

The province invested more than $1 billion into land ambulance funding across Ontario, a nine per cent increase from 2025.

By: Ede Brecevic
The London Free Press

INCENTIVIZING TRAINING FOR PARAMEDICS

The Hastings-Quinte Emergency Services Committee is hoping Hastings County Council will approve a loan program to upgrade the skills of local paramedics.

On Wednesday, the committee recommended a loan program totalling $18,000 to pay tuition costs for regular paramedics to take the one-year Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP} program at one of the colleges offering the course, such as Durham College in Oshawa.

The successful student would have three years to repay the loan and could be reimbursed for the final year’s payments under certain conditions.

An Advanced Care Paramedic is qualified at a higher level than a regular paramedic and the Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Service currently has only 16 ACPs while there’s a need for 56.

An Advanced Care Paramedic starts at pay rate of $5 more per hour than a regular one.

By: John Spitters
Quintenews

'ENCOURAGING NEWS': COUNTY SEES RISING DEMAND FOR COMMUNITY PARAMEDICINE

Simcoe County’s community paramedicine program is seeing surging demand and clear drops in unnecessary 9-1-1 use as expanded clinics, home‑visit teams and mental‑health response partnerships help vulnerable residents get care earlier and avoid emergency departments.

Council learned Tuesday that the program has advanced several clinical initiatives and successfully rolled out an interim electronic medical record (EMR) system after its previous software vendor shut down.

Work is also underway to procure a modern, long‑term EMR platform to improve clinical documentation, data integration, operational efficiency and reporting, the report stated, which also outlined recent provincial funding developments.

According to staff, the Ministry of Health has signalled its intent to shift community paramedicine to a permanent base‑funding model, and the county continues to push for sustainable funding that reflects ongoing operating pressures, capital needs and program growth.

Jane Sinclair, the county’s commissioner of health and emergency services, called the transition to permanent base-funding “encouraging news.”

“We are waiting for details from the province, however at our delegation at AMO this summer, we were advised by the delegates that there will be an announcement in future regarding permanent funding (by) the Ministry of Health,” she said.

“We anticipate there may be an increase in funding, so we anxiously await updates from the ministry on that," Sinclair added.

Sarah Mills, the county’s director and chief of paramedic services, said regardless of where community paramedics are physically located, the program delivers equal service across the county.

She also noted wait lists are shorter in the southern part of the county, suggesting the need for stronger outreach since there is available capacity there right now.

The program, added Sinclair, was developed and designed to provide support across the entire region, later noting the county does currently have community paramedicine in three housing units in Bradford as well.

By: Nikki Cole
COLLINGWOOD TODAY

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