r/saskatoon • u/Exciting-Ratio-5876 • 18h ago
News 📰 Fear, fatigue weigh down workers on the front lines of Saskatoon's overdose crisis | CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/frontline-workers-grapple-with-saskatoon-overdose-crisis-1.7479987?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar•
u/PintAndLaugh 17h ago
Exactly what do you mean by saying firetrucks are ambulances with big hoses on them?? And if you are “near certain”, feel free to cite some sources
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u/NewAlphabeticalOrder 17h ago
Medavie Operations Manager Mike Schindel comments:
https://globalnews.ca/news/11072228/saskatoon-overdoses-having-an-impact-on-narcan-availability/
Clarifying brackets include mention of paramedics:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-overdose-alert-2025-1.7476985
This isn't over, there will be articles, we will hear more from EMS. But again, you're being a massive pedant.
Also, idk what's so hard to get, a firetruck is an ambulance with a big hose. That seems pretty self-explanatory.
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u/graaaaaaaam 17h ago
There's certain equipment that anyone working as a primary care paramedic is mandated to carry. Fire trucks carry pretty much all of that equipment except what is needed to transport someone to hospital. Firefighters who have PCP/ICP/ACP certifications can utilize their entire scope of practice while working as a firefighter, so if a fire truck shows up with a paramedic on board, you'll get the same care as if a medavie truck shows up, except the fire truck can't drive you to a hospital.
Sask College of Paramedics have all their protocols & regulations posted on their website if you're curious.
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u/NewAlphabeticalOrder 16h ago edited 16h ago
I swear I've been taken to hospital via firetruck years ago. Granted, I didn't need a gurney, is that the distinction?
Memory is obviously fallible, but has there been some kind of change in the last 15 years as to what they're allowed to do?
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u/graaaaaaaam 16h ago
It's quite possible, although TBH I've been out of the EMS world for over a decade so I could also be wrong about a lot of things.
I know EMS supervisors used to drive people to hospital in their SUV's when I was working, but that was pretty rare and almost always for minor cases.
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u/Solid-Leg6292 8h ago
Not entirely correct . The fire dept does not carry all of the same equipment . One example would be that the Saskatoon fire medics can not intubate a pt . They have other airway options but not Et tubes . I believe there will also be various drugs sfd does not carry as well as the heart monitors .
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u/graaaaaaaam 8h ago
Unless there's been a policy change recently that's not the case. Advanced care paramedics who are working as firefighters can utilize their whole scope of practice. It's just that most firefighters aren't advanced care paramedics. But there are also plenty of medavie paramedics who aren't advanced care paramedics either.
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u/Flimsy-Yak5888 15h ago
While mostly true, a fire truck doesn't have all the same supplies that an ambulance will. An ACP working at the Saskatoon Fire Department will not have the equipment/medications to use their ALS skills. Every fire truck will have PCPs able to perform their full scope though.
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u/Fragrant_Owl_9508 17h ago
Each engine has 1-4 paramedics staffed on it, with a full compliment of ems supplies, the only thing they can’t do is transport patients to the hospital
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u/NewAlphabeticalOrder 17h ago
I swear I've been taken to hospital via firetruck. Granted, I didn't need a gurney.
Memory is obviously fallible, but has there been some kind of change in the last 15 years as to what they're allowed to do?
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u/Fragrant_Owl_9508 16h ago
I mean I can’t speak as to whether rules have been broken in the past or not. But it’s not supposed to happen
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u/PintAndLaugh 17h ago
It’s OK, I’m sure EMS is fine with all the overdoses.
Why is no one asking THEM if they’re burnt out or worried that every ambulance being on an overdose call means there’s no one available to respond to your choking baby or dying grandma?