A retired ambulance donated by Medavie Health Services West which has been fully equipped, thanks to other sponsors and is in great working order, heads to the small northern community of Stanley Mission tomorrow (Wed).

A Saskatoon Police officer who is also a paramedic who occasionally takes shifts at Stanley Mission says the community really needs an ambulance. Constable Eric Jelinski explains that the nearest ambulance is in La Ronge, about an hour away, so when someone is injured or having health issues and needs an ambulance, first responders use a truck or SUV to pick them up and take them back to the local clinic to continue working on them and monitoring them while waiting for the ambulance.

Jelinski says, “You know, it shouldn’t matter where you are in the province, whether you are rural or remote, north or south, it shouldn’t matter where you are that dictates the level of care that you should have access to, and I have always believed that.” He adds that in the first six months of this year, there were four cardiac arrests in Stanley Mission.”Two of these patients were transitioned back to the clinic in a pickup truck and two in an SUV. That was the best that we had. We identified this as a gap in the care that we could provide.” He points out that in -30 degree weather, providing care in the back of a truck isn’t good for the patient or the first responder.

Jelinski doesn’t have an exact estimate for how much the ambulance and its equipment would cost if the community had to pay for it, but expects a brand new ambulance with equipment and the appropriate decals would be around $200,000.

The National Police Federation, the union for RCMP officers is another of the sponsors. Jelinski explains that many RCMP officers have worked in Stanley Mission, so the union decided to help out.

There are a couple of medical devices on the wish list if anyone wants to donate. You can email: jelinski@sasktel.net and reference the Stanley Mission Project.