Honour our First Responders

Bless them all

I have long been interested and supportive of our First Responders. I spent a brief moment as a Victim Services volunteer in Muskoka.  I know that most of them are hard-working, despite the Ottawa news about incidents. Muskoka Lakes volunteer firefighters have been fighting for recognition and better equipment. The OPP deal with many horrible situations, while ambulance crews fight for the lives of our citizens. Our 2nd day here in Perth, I watched the crews work in a car rollover.

I watched weary first responders a summer ago: volunteer firefighters, OPP (6 incidents one weekend), paramedics, attempting the rescue of two men, non-swimmers. The crowds watched in awe, as they worked hard to recover the bodies. Concern, as this could be one of their own. I wrote a poem about the event, it moved me so.
the meaning of death  A terrible time that summer. We lost so many.

Bala Falls drownings video
	- 33 sec - 5 Aug 2009 - Uploaded by j3nnyj1ll Two non-swimmers drowned while trying to save a 9-year old relative who was sucked out into the river by the undertow of the rapids.

I have a friend who is paraplegic. In order to go to the dentist she needs to be sent in an ambulance on a gurney. I attended as her advocate. It is an uncomfortable trip for her, as she is in constant pain due to her condition, but the crew were fabulous.  Such TLC. It is a necessary means of transportation for some. The ladies in long-term care (staff and residents) are always happy to see the handsome male paramedics. (If only they knew!)

I recall the day we took Dad to emergency in May, 2006. Our neighbour, one of the volunteer firefighters, helped with my Dad. It was comforting to have the pros there. Dad had both dementia and delirium (the latter undiagnosed due to dementia, caused by an infection). We loaded him into the ambulance. They sent him home saying there was nothing they could do. Now I know better.

Weary volunteers

In my Mom's case - my brother decided to take her to emergency the night before she died. They sent her home at 4:00 a.m. as she was palliative and there was nothing they could do. Another issue I've written about. Too many deaths on the way or at emergency.  In clear cut cases, there should be support for those who choose to become caregivers. No one in the Primary Care team: from the physician, to the Charge Nurse, the CCAC staff, the hospital, the oncologist, told me about Hospice, or offered information on palliative care.

This death was a surprise to only me, and the rest of the community. Her respiration slowed, she hadn't been eating much beyond a few tablespoons of food a few times a day. The PPS and/or the ESAS, are excellent tools to help track and predict palliative performance. Whether they decline slowly, or quickly, levelling off at times like steps on a stair, or gradually decreasing in functions, we know what approaching death looks like. It is shameful that our society cannot speak of it. It is our right to have a good death.


Small communities have different experiences of their crews. The clerk at the local store told me it was her son who was one of the paramedics who ferried Mom to (or from?) the hospital the last time. He came home and cried at the sadness of it all. Mom had a great life. She'd bravely fought cancer and had now succumbed, in peace, with her son and husband by her side. They are good people. Kind, caring, and committed. They have a wealth of knowledge, and a calm demeanor that responds to a crisis, while managing frantic family members.

Triple alarm, Bala, Apr. 22

Social Media - do you tweet?

Social Media
I've been following and tweeting, and reading a wide variety of tweets. Out of interest, primarily on my laptop. It is a way of reading breaking news, see seeing what is going on in your city, region, country. Topics I follow are related to health care, safety, politics. 

I have been quite interested in the work, for example, of Toronto Police Services (@TorontoPolice, @trafficservices). I no longer live in TO, but their positive messages are truly reminders - I think they are powerful. 

We are human, and make mistakes. In a traffic incident the pedestrian always loses.

People Make Errors

I remember taking a class across the street in Nepean. I could hear the OPP siren, could see the cop barreling her way along the road on her way to an emergency (the station was just down the road), and still my gr. 6s who'd ran on ahead, ran across the crosswalk to the other side of the street.

People don't think. They consider themselves immortal. 'It won't happen to me!'

I am convinced that we cannot reach those who continue to take risks; driving, swimming, boating, to drink & drive, for example, but we 

have to target their family and friends. Pedestrians act completely crazy, in some cases. In downtown Perth, with voluntary crosswalks (I've seen them used as such). I've seen people walk out and THEN look.

Good Info

As a long time follower of Education for the Driving Masses  I think that this empowers the bystanders. 

Typical rural drivers

My interest began when living in Muskoka, when the 3 young men died after an afternoon of drinking. Drownings in Muskoka are appalling, not accidents, but incidents.

I was a Victim Services Volunteer and the ignorance and risk-takers, appall me. A siren every Friday afternoon. Our volunteer firefighters were burned out the year we had 90 in 2010, 87 in 2009, 9 in Muskoka alone. Drownings in 2008 mimic the action on the roads: people taking chances with their lives, lives of others on land and water.

Social Media and Services
It raises awareness. It might save a life. It makes people think twice. It warns of traffic slowdowns. From breaking news, to defensive pedestrians, they are performing a good service.

Heads up!

My Retired Teachers Org. tweets, I cannot find but a couple of people who follow them, most do not appear to be retired. When you look at who follows, you can often see that the target audience is there for glory, or PR, or to increase web traffic, not to perform a service or to have any social relationship with you. The content of their tweets are telling. Some obfuscate their twitter messages by commenting on a football game, in the midst of serious political messages, for example. This is why I've stopped having messages sent to my phone. I was overwhelmed. Like many my age, my phone is outgoing and only for emergencies, or important grocery store input. 

For-profits of all sorts have hijacked social media to their own ends. I have a lot of Twitter friends, who also run a business, but this is not true of all of my followers. Some are seeking information in my Ontario Seniors Healthcare blog, many are for-profit agencies, though. 

Typical rural scene

It is time consuming, and there has to be a purpose to it. In my age group, bloggers over age 50, while many of us are; sharing information, ideas, reflections, photos, most under that age group are selling something. Which is fair enough. 

On those cold February days, when housebound, when our pets are doing something kooky, I find it fun to read about their antics. I have had intriguing debates about many topics, been inspired to write some poetry, inspired to go outdoors and take some photos. I like, especially, busting the myth that those of us over age 50 eschew our computers! I taught it and gave workshops to students, peers, parents, special education educators. 

Cheers to my readers. 

To TPS, and all our First Responders: keep up  the good work!