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100 Mile House’s six new permanent paramedics have arrived

Richard Miller is one of six new full-time paramedics in Station 327
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Richard Miller is one of six new full-time paramedics in 100 Mile House. He started on July 5, 2018. Beth Audet photo.

Richard Miller, who has been a full-time paramedic for the past 11 years, is one of six new permanent paramedics serving the 100 Mile House area.

He began at his new station on July 5.

Miller said he had been planning to come to the Cariboo for the past four years after he purchased a house on Horse Lake.

“I wanted to go somewhere new, somewhere I haven’t been,” he said, adding that he has family up north and down south.

100 Mile is a nice getaway from Vancouver and he said he’d always wanted a cabin on a lake.

“It’s a good station, it’s clean, everybody’s friendly, everybody cares about their patients,” he said.

“You come from the city and everybody complains about the workload, they complain about the patients. Here they’re like, ‘Hey let’s do another call, let’s have some fun, let’s go for coffee.’”

Miller said he’s also got a great partner in Ewald Klassen, who was promoted up from part-time.

“He’s an excellent partner, we get along great, he lives in my neighbourhood and he’s here for the same reason I am: the hunting, the fishing, the relaxing,” he said.

RELATED: Six new full-time paramedics to be added in 100 Mile House

Miller was recruited into the paramedic industry back in 2000, after he and a friend went for first aid training.

After their test, the friends went to a neighbouring bar.

“I celebrated because I passed. He was drowning his sorrows because he failed,” he chuckled.

It was at the bar that he met his future unit chief who talked him into becoming a paramedic.

“I got drunk and got a job,” Miller joked.

He has since worked in stations all over B.C. - Revelstoke, Powell River, Mount Washington, Chase, Smithers, Vancouver and Vernon.

The six new hires bring the full-time roster in Station 327 up to eight.

Miller, Aleah Towle and Michella McCaskill are full-timers hired on from other areas. Whereas Anne MacDonald, Ewald Klassen and Lori Forster were promoted up from part-time.

The crew has been transitioning into their new roles gradually over the past months, making sure prior commitments or vacation time is fulfilled.

Nelson Oler, the station’s unit chief, said the transition has been going smoothly.

With the new hires, “I’m confident that we can provide an efficient response to all patients,” he said.

Oler, who has been in 100 Mile for 15 years, said the community is amazing and its people are always willing to help out and support its emergency services.

He said it’s amazing to get the more permanent paramedics in to serve the community’s needs.

Some of the area’s biggest challenges, according to Miller, are the distance between communities and the aging population.

He explained that older people dealing with cardiac or breathing issues need immediate assistance and response time can make all the difference.

“That’s the nature of the job,” he said, “to be ready to go … so, it’s nice to be able to fill that (need),” he said.

BC Emergency Health Services announced the increase in permanent paramedics in March as part of a plan to improve paramedic services in all areas of the province.

According to an email response from BCEHS, paramedics in 100 Mile respond to calls from about 20 communities in an area spanning several thousand square kilometres, from 132 Mile to 70 Mile and from Lac Des Roches to Canoe Creek.

Station 327 responds to approximately 450 calls in 100 Mile House, alone, every year, plus 700 patient transfers.


beth.audet@100milefreepress.net

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