NEW AMBULANCES AND EQUIPMENT ON THE WAY FOLLOWING FUNDING FAST-TRACK The Region of Waterloo has fast-tracked $9.1 million to order new ambulances and paramedic equipment sooner due to almost two years of delays. By: CTV NEWS

GREY COUNTY OPENS NEW FEVERSHAM PARAMEDIC BASE TO THE PUBLIC OCTOBER 23 Grey County opened its new paramedic base south of Feversham to the public on Friday, October 23, ahead of the building’s completion deadline. The base sits at 494140 Grey Road 2. Visitors could tour the building, see ambulances and equipment and speak with paramedics, according to an October 9 county release. “If you have ever wanted to see inside an ambulance, see inside a base, or ask a Grey County paramedic a question, this is your opportunity,” Grey County Paramedic Chief Kevin McNab said in the release. The county says the base gives crews serving the area a permanent home. Domm Construction Ltd. built it, and the county puts the total cost, including professional fees and site preparation, at $2.4 million. County council awarded Domm the construction tender in October 2025 at $2.16 million, saying at the time that the base would improve response times in southeast Grey. The building follows the same design as the county’s replacement base in Durham, which Domm Construction also built for $2.4 million and which opened in September 2025. MORE BASES PLANNED Feversham is one of four additional bases in Grey County’s capital and operational plans. The county says it is considering future bases in Ayton, Thornbury and Cobble Beach based on forecast population growth. According to the county, its Paramedic Services Comprehensive Deployment Review projects a 68% increase in paramedic call volumes across Grey County between 2023 and 2033. Staff will present an update to the review to county council late this year or early in 2027, the county says. “Grey County is investing in our paramedic services not just to meet the needs of our community today, but for years to come,” Warden Andrea Matrosovs said in the release. By: THE OWEN SOUND CURRENT

COAST GUARD EXERCISE SIMULATES EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO FERRY DISASTER IN KINGSTON The Wolfe Islander III ferry is at the centre of a training exercise involving more than two dozen other agencies this week along the Kingston shoreline. The three-day exercise, was led by the Canadian Coast Guard and included federal, provincial and municipal agencies. More than 200 personnel, along with 60 volunteers, took part in the event. The Coast Guard holds larger exercises like this one every five years or so, but this week’s event — which took about 10 months to plan — is the largest the agency has staged in about 20 years. “It’s a great opportunity to work with partners and strengthen the inter-agency coordination and also increase the readiness of our teams, validate plans and procedures,” explained Francis Lapointe, superintendent of the Coast Guard’s marine environmental hazard response team. “If we don’t do that in real life, it’s just a piece of paper so for us it’s really important to test and validate those procedures and see if there’s a way to improve the communications with partners or different processes.” The scenario playing out involves the Wolfe Islander III running aground resulting in injuries to passengers and crew. Tuesday’s events focused on the rescue of the passengers. Later this week, attention will move to cleaning up an environmental spill from the vessel. “Exercises like this are very important because we don’t do this level of exercise ever,” said Jeremie Hurtubise, a deputy chief with the Frontenac Paramedics. “We are very reactive. So if something were to happen with the train or a plane or even the 401, we just react. Exercises like this allow us to practice those routines and practices that we don’t see very often, thankfully.” Paramedics were set up at HMCS Cataraqui to receive the 60 or so passengers, triage them and treat the injured. By: Elliot Ferguson THE KINGSTON WHIG-STANDARD

AMBULANCE CRASH SENDS VEHICLE INTO DOWNTOWN LONDON FUNERAL HOME No one was injured after a crash involving an ambulance sent another vehicle into a downtown London funeral home. The early Saturday collision happened at the intersection of Waterloo and King streets. Middlesex-London Paramedic Service director Adam Bennett said the ambulance was returning to its station at the time of the crash and had no patients on board. “I can tell you that there were no injuries resulting from the crash,” Bennett said. Bennett said there was no “compromise to emergency coverage” as a result of the collision. Images provided to The Free Press show extensive damage to the front end of the ambulance, with debris scattered across the road. One image shows a tire in the intersection. Another image shows the other vehicle on the lawn of John T. Donahue Funeral Home at Waterloo and King streets. The collision damaged the funeral home, but no services were disrupted. Paul Condon, who lives above the funeral home, said he heard the collision at 4:45 a.m., followed by the vehicle striking the front of the building. “It was literally right below where I sleep. That’s to say, the building actually shook,” Condon said. He said he heard another crash about two months ago and the sound of the collision stayed with him. “It’s something you don’t hear very often. It’s metal on metal and it’s extremely loud,” Condon said. “I thought, ‘Oh boy, here’s another one,’ and then I heard the thump against the building. Nobody was hurt, by the grace of God.” He said the vehicle struck the building to the right of the Donahue Funeral Home sign, damaging the brick wall and affecting the electrical system inside. “The first foot of the car was probably inside the building because he blew all through the bricks,” Condon said. Condon said the electrical issues were repaired and the building has been temporarily patched with plywood until the masonry can be restored. London police have not released any information. By: Allison Young The London Free Press

ONTARIO FORMS EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT ACTION TEAM TO CUT ER WAIT TIMES Ontario is launching an Emergency Department Action Team to work with 26 hospitals to cut ER wait times. The team is backed by $47 million over four years. By: CTV News

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WHY HEART ATTACKS IN WOMEN ARE OFTEN MISSED IN CANADIAN EMERGENCY ROOMS For years, the way doctors diagnose heart attacks has largely relied on research and testing standards developed using data that came mostly from men. Now, new international guidelines are drawing attention to that gap, redrawing the plans for testing and care when women are being seen for possible heart attacks. That’s because heart disease remains the leading cause of death among women worldwide. But how they are assessed and tested is based on a male standard of care, says the world heart federation. For Karen Humphrey, that gap nearly cost her her life. Humphrey was 47 years old when she first went to a hospital near her home in Chilliwack, B.C., with symptoms she feared could be a heart attack. “My chest felt like squeezing. I had pain down my arm,” she recalled. She had training in CPR and recognized symptoms that could be those of a heart attack. Her doctors tested the level of troponin in her blood, a protein released when the heart is damaged. They said her levels were too low to indicate a heart attack. She was also considered relatively low risk because of her age. She said she insisted on more testing and was offered an angiogram to check out the flow in her heart. Humphrey said some doctors questioned whether she needed an angiogram, which left her feeling dismissed. “My response was, well, if there’s something wrong, I want to know.” That angiogram revealed a serious problem: there was a 90 per cent blockage in one of her arteries. Humphrey was treated with medication and a stent to restore blood flow. Her chest pain returned, and without follow-up from a cardiologist or rehabilitation, she said she headed to the emergency room for help with severe heart spasms. “It felt like you’re being strangled from the inside,” said Humphrey. Doctors continued to check her troponin levels. After returning to the ER, Humphrey refused to leave until she got more testing. Humphrey’s experience reflects a growing focus on what researchers describe as a gender gap in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. By: Avis Favaro CTV News

TIMMINS PARAMEDICS COMBAT OPIOID POISONINGS WITH OUTREACH Police are not the only emergency service dealing with the impacts of the unregulated drug supply. The Cochrane District Services Board’s Paramedic Service is also responding to a sharp increase in suspected opioid poisonings. Deputy Chief Seamus Murphy said paramedics have responded to more than 20 suspected overdoses over a three-day period. “In the last three days, we’ve seen a vast rise in our opiate call volume and opioid poisonings. We’ve had over 20 overdoses in the last three days and no fatalities. Thankfully so far,” said Murphy. He added that paramedics are also seeing signs that tranquilizers may be present in the unregulated drug supply. “We’re finding, with the vital signs and the patient findings, that there’s tranquilizers that are tainting the unregulated product right now,” said Murphy. Murphy told CTV News some patients begin breathing again after receiving naloxone but remain unresponsive or heavily impaired. The concerns come as the paramedic service continues its REACH mobile outreach program, which is designed to connect with vulnerable people before some situations become 9-1-1 calls. Murphy said the program has made contact with more than 2,400 people so far, although the figure includes repeat contacts. The program has also distributed more than 500 naloxone kits and about 1,800 water bottles. Murphy said paramedics have helped mitigate approximately 120 calls and have treated more than 94 individuals through the outreach vehicle. He added the program also helps paramedics determine who requires emergency medical care while connecting others with appropriate community services. REACH operates daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is a pilot project involving several community agencies, including Timmins and District Hospital. The program is scheduled to operate through Nov. 30. Paramedics continue to remind people that anyone witnessing a suspected overdose should call 9-1-1 and administer naloxone if available. By: Lydia Chubak CTV News

COULD WHOLE BLOOD HELP TRAUMA PATIENTS SURVIVE? ORNGE TEAMS PUT IT TO THE TEST Video By: Global News

ONTARIO TODDLER SURVIVES RATTLESNAKE BITE, PARTLY THANKS TO 18 DOSES OF ANTIVENOM A 15-month-old boy from Sarnia, Ont., is recovering at home after being bitten by a rattlesnake at a family cottage on the Thanksgiving long weekend, requiring treatment at two hospitals and 18 doses of antivenom. Wells Gladwish was bitten on the thumb around 12:45 p.m. while spending the afternoon with family at their cottage in Cape Chin North, on the Bruce Peninsula. His father, Matt Huggett, said the toddler was walking near a family bonfire when he came upon a snake and tried to pick it up. The snake bit Wells on the thumb, which began to turn white within about five minutes. Staff at Lion's Head Hospital needed multiple attempts to start an IV in the active toddler. After a test dose to check for a potentially severe allergic reaction, the team administered 10 vials of antivenom. The hospital had 14 vials in total. TRANSFER FROM LION'S HEAD TO LONDON Ornge air ambulance planned a transfer, but Huggett said repeated delays and cancellations left the family waiting as the swelling continued. A nurse at Lion's Head advocated for Wells to receive the hospital's remaining four vials of antivenom and to be transported to London by land ambulance. “We could no longer wait for Ornge to make a decision,” Huggett said. “They ended up putting him in an ambulance.” Dr. Rishi Ganesan, a pediatric critical care physician at LHSC's Children's Hospital, credited the Lion's Head team for having antivenom available and administering it quickly. Ganesan said they sourced additional antivenom and brought it to London under a police escort from the Toronto region, bringing the total to 18. Ganesan said antivenom is derived from horses and can cause a severe allergic reaction, which is why the initial dose must be administered carefully with appropriate monitoring. He said children do not necessarily need less antivenom than adults. Treatment targets the amount of venom, rather than the patient's size, and children can become seriously ill more quickly because the venom has a greater impact relative to their body size. By: Travis Dolynny CBC News

PARAMEDICS LEARN MORE ABOUT FARM DANGERS Some Lambton County paramedics recently had an up close look of the dangers farmers face at work. The Lambton Federation of Agriculture recently hosted an Agriculture Training Day for the paramedics to help them recognize some of the hazards they may find when they go to calls on the farm. LFA Director Harry VanWieren and Warwick Fire Chief Brad Goodhill reviewed a number of potential hazards, including silo and bunker gas, manure pits, livestock, grain bin entrapments, chemicals and farm equipment. LFA officials say for many paramedics, agriculture is not something they deal with every day and understanding the risks found around a farm can make a difference when responding to an emergency. By: THE INDEPENDENT

NEW EVERY CHILD MATTERS GRT BUS & AMBULANCE WRAP REVEALED A new Every Child Matters Grand River Transit (GRT) bus and ambulance wrap was unveiled this week, during the Remember Me Walk in Kitchener held on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The design is the work of Indigenous artist Kevin George. His design was inspired by the resilience of and hope for Indigenous families who continue to thrive despite the trauma of the residential school system. “The residential school system was designed to strip Indigenous people of these gifts and sever our connections to the lands, waters, and relatives within creation,” said George. “For generations, Indigenous people have been born into this legacy, grieving this loss. Only now are we starting to see a change. The people are reclaiming those gifts, recovering those relationships, and creating a path for future generations.” The artwork is featured on one GRT bus and four ambulances in Waterloo Region. The bus wrap was introduced on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in September 2023 and is now the work of the Reconciliation Action Partnership. By: Christine Clark City News Everywhere

DISPATCHING CHANGES MAY IMPACT LAMBTON COUNTY PARAMEDIC RESPONSE TIMES Paramedics may take longer to arrive to calls that aren’t life-threatening because of changes coming in November to how Lambton County paramedics are dispatched. A communications centre in Wallaceburg dispatching paramedics in Lambton and Chatham-Kent is switching to a provincial medical priority dispatch system that prioritizes life-threatening emergencies rather than call sequence, said a county report. “We would see it as a better system” that “hones-in on the triage level of the callers,” said Stephen Turner, Lambton’s chief of emergency medical services. “Life-threatening emergencies are prioritized, and the intent is to ensure we have faster responses” in those cases, he said. “What that means is non-life-threatening emergencies, much less urgent situations, might have to wait longer because our resources are tasked to the higher emergencies,” Turner said. “For those more routine calls . . . the times might be a little longer.” There are plans for a public education campaign in the coming weeks to prepare local residents for the changes, he said. The new system to which the Wallaceburg communications centre is moving is widely used around the world while the current system is only used in Ontario, Turner said. The system being replaced by the province incorporates “clinical assessment and time-based factors,” the report said. “In circumstances where a lower-acuity call is delayed because a paramedic crew has been appropriately prioritized to a patient experiencing a life-threatening emergency, the delay represents an intentional and clinically appropriate allocation of resources,” it said. “We ask the public to understand that we recognize everybody has health care needs,” Turner said. “The urgent ones need to be treated first but we will absolutely make sure we can get to you in what would be considered a timely and appropriate manner depending on the condition.” By: Paul Morden Sarnia Observer

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON NEW TERRACE BAY ONTARIO PARAMEDIC BASE Construction has started on a new paramedic base in Terrace Bay, Ont., which will replace both the existing Terrace Bay station and the one in Schreiber. The Township of Terrace Bay and City of Thunder Bay entered into an agreement in August to support the construction of a new paramedic base to serve north shore communities, including Terrace Bay, Schreiber, Jackfish, Rossport, Pays Plat First Nation and several surrounding unincorporated areas. Under the agreement, Terrace Bay will construct and own the building. It will then be leased to the City of Thunder Bay on behalf of Superior North EMS (SNEMS), which provides services to the city and district. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday at the new build at 1006 Highway 17. “There [are] some issues along the north shore with paramedic retention but with the new modern building, we're confident that that won't happen anymore,” Terrace Bay’s mayor Paul Malashewski said. The community of fewer than 1,600 people received a $6 million loan from Infrastructure Ontario to support the project, according to Malashewski. “It's definitely a big investment for the township,” he said. HIRING STAFF, PREPARING TO OPEN NEXT FALL The new paramedic station will boast 24-7 staffing as well as three drive-through ambulance bays, a crew area, meeting room, fitness room and living quarters. The decision to amalgamate the Terrace Bay and Schreiber paramedic stations came from the SNEMS master plan, which determined that being based in Terrace Bay would allow the service to “capture the highest number of calls with the lowest response time,” Kadikoff explained. “We are in the process of hiring more paramedics. Staffing is very difficult out in the District of Thunder Bay,” he continued. “The one thing we have going for us is we have a healthy, fresh group of paramedics that are there. They're servicing the catchment area already, so we're going to use the existing complement to staff the new base.” By: Sarah Law CBC News

HOMECOMING CROWD STRAINS GUELPH HOSPITAL AS PARAMEDICS SEEK OUTSIDE HELP A larger-than-usual Homecoming gathering put pressure on Guelph’s emergency services. One mother described spending roughly 12 hours at the hospital with her infant daughter as staff handled the influx of patients. Guelph General Hospital treated about 60 Homecoming-related patients over the weekend, while local paramedics sought help from neighbouring services as a large gathering near Chancellors Way put pressure on emergency responders. Dr. Alex Folkl, the hospital’s chief of emergency medicine, said patients were treated for injuries including head wounds and cuts, as well as intoxication. He said the emergency department was stretched beyond capacity and warned that another surge of seriously ill or injured patients could have affected its ability to provide timely care. Guelph Police said Saturday’s gathering was significantly larger than those in recent years. Officers responded to objects being thrown, people climbing buildings and other structures, and reports of shoplifting and vandalism at nearby businesses. Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service deputy chief Leanne Swantko said crews had prepared for increased demand, but the evening was busier than anticipated. The service requested support from neighbouring municipalities while continuing to handle other emergency calls in the community. The strain was felt by patients who had no connection to Homecoming. Sedona Wise of Erin said she brought her six-month-old daughter to Guelph General on Saturday night after the child woke up vomiting and having trouble breathing. Wise said she understood that the most critical patients take priority and was grateful for the care her daughter received, but wanted the effect on other families recognized. Police said their Homecoming response was planned with the University of Guelph, the city and bylaw staff, fire and paramedic services, Guelph General Hospital, and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. By: CAUGHT IN GUELPH

NEW TRIAL SET FOR PARAMEDIC CHARGED IN FATAL AMBULANCE COLLISION Trial dates have been confirmed for a paramedic charged with careless driving causing death after a 2022 collision between an ambulance and a snowplow. Today, provincial offences court heard that Shani Larrett — a veteran primary-care paramedic who was charged following the death of Connie Halverson — will stand trial in provincial offences court over a two-day period in February 2027. Halverson, a 68-year-old woman from White River, was killed on Feb. 20, 2022 when the ambulance she was travelling in as a patient slammed into the rear of a snowplow on Highway 17 approximately 40 km north of Wawa. At the time, Ontario Provincial Police charged Larrett with careless driving causing death and careless driving causing bodily harm. Larrett was convicted for careless driving causing death under the Highway Traffic Act, which carries fines of between $2,000 and $50,000, along with a maximum of two years imprisonment and a potential licence suspension for five years if convicted. That conviction, however, has since been overturned. In a decision released on June 8, Ontario Court Justice Romuald Kwolek said the justice of the peace presiding over the case failed to address key pieces of evidence that were presented during the trial. “The justice of the peace did not address Larrett’s evidence, on the issue of due diligence, why she drove in the manner that she did, and her belief that the snowplow was much farther away so that she did not yet have to apply her brakes,” Kwolek wrote in his decision. The judge also found the justice of the peace didn’t analyze whether the blowing snow from the plow, combined with whiteout conditions, impacted Larrett’s perception of the distance between the ambulance and the plow. Evidence from the snowplow driver that he had failed to see the ambulance in his rearview mirror in the seconds prior to hearing the siren “as further evidence of brief whiteout conditions” was also not taken into account, Kwolek determined. By: James Hopkin SOOTODAY

ONTARIO ANNOUNCES $11.8 MILLION FOR CORNWALL PARAMEDICS The province gave the Cornwall SDG Paramedic Services a nearly $12-million top-up on Monday. At a brief press conference at the Cornwall SDG Paramedic Services’ headquarters, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry MPP Nolan Quinn announced $11,864,126 in provincial funding for the jointly-managed paramedic service, with Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale and SDG Warden Frank Landry in attendance. The funding represents a nearly 13 per cent increase over last year’s $10,521,539 in provincial funding. On average, the Ontario government doled out a nine per cent increase to paramedic services across the province, according a release from Quinn’s office. Paramedic services chief Bill Lister said the funding will be going towards operations and staffing to respond to increasing call volumes. As a single service across Cornwall and SDG, Lister said funding will be spread according to meet the needs of provincially-mandated response times. “This is no definitive money moving to one or two,” he said. Last year, Cornwall SDG paramedic service met its service goals in all categories except one. In its year-in-review report, it said its goal was to arrive at 75 per cent of Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (CTAS) level three events within 15 minutes — a CTAS level three event being an urgent condition that could “potentially progress to a serious problem requiring emergency interventions,” according to a Ministry of Health guide. Cornwall paramedics arrived within 15 minutes only 72.26 per cent of the time. There were seven cases where a call was made and no ambulance was available, but were of a short duration and happened less frequently than in 2024. Cornwall SDG Paramedic Services onboarded eight new full-time equivalent front-line paramedics in 2025, along with three new full-time supervisors in an effort to meet demands related to increasing call volumes. This ask was the driver of an almost $2.3-million increase in the department’s salaries and benefits that year. Funding for paramedic services is split between the province and municipality. By: Nick Dunne Standard Freeholder

PARAMEDICS HAVE TO 'MAKE QUICK DECISIONS' Anyone looking for an exciting career may want to think about being a paramedic. Paramedics provide emergency medical care – often saving a life – to sick or injured people in homes, at collisions and other emergency scenes. They make critical decisions before transporting patients to hospital by ambulance. They're definitely in demand. “Within the next three years we estimate about 450 paramedic vacancies are expected within northeastern Ontario, so that's significant,” said Kate Kirkham, the Sault’s chief of paramedic services. “In Sault Ste. Marie, we're looking to hire approximately 15 part-time paramedics to bring us up to our full roster and we do expect to have even more over the next few years,” Kirkham told SooToday. She said the need for more paramedics will grow locally due to retirements and the growing complexity of the paramedic field. “When I started we were around 36 full-timers and now we're up to 70. Programming is growing, needs are growing, so our service is keeping up,” Kirkham said. “When I started we worked with six medications and a defibrillator and now it's over 30 medications that the paramedics can administer through the physician that oversees them. The work is more complicated. The patients are more complex.” Kirkham said there's a lot more interest in letting paramedics work through those complexities at a pre-hospital level. “It's been found that paramedics can actually address a lot of the issues before they even consider going to the hospital and that relieves the hospital of some of the pressures they're seeing in the emergency department.” Kirkham said she and her crew are excited to see the launch of Sault College’s new two-year, four-semester paramedic program. “We intend to have most of their students come through here for their clinical work,” Kirkham said. The college has 20 students in the program and is targeting an intake of 40 in the fall of 2027. There are three paramedic-specific courses this semester and two experienced primary care paramedics teaching. Sault College will be recruiting additional paramedics to teach in the winter and there will be more paramedic-specific courses added. Experienced paramedics can branch out into specialized work. Adam Bering is involved in the Sault EMS community paramedic program. “We deal with the older adults of the community. We try to keep them safely in their homes for as long as we can. We have an extra skill set on top of the 911 front line paramedics,” Bering said. Community paramedics treat seniors with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), congestive heart failure, urinary tract infections and other serious conditions. “We can give medications for conditions through our own medical director. We’ve been able to expand our skill set,” Bering said. Being a paramedic appeals to Sam Dufault’s outgoing nature. “A big part of paramedicine is socializing, communicating,” Dufault said, adding that she enjoys the challenge of working on the wide range of calls paramedics receive, from lift assists to serious trauma. “A paramedic needs to be a really outgoing person. You need to be able to communicate with the public and be able to have a very approachable demeanour. When you're going to calls you're often going to people's worst moments and you want to be able to keep a calm, cool, collected persona,” Dufault said. Dufault likes the job because she loves helping people. “I would recommend the job, 100 per cent. It's an amazing job,” Dufault said. “How many jobs do you know where you can communicate, provide care to people, and make a difference in someone's day? To be the difference when someone is having one of their worst moments and being able to help makes it very gratifying.” Kirkham and Bering also recommend the job of paramedic for those who can handle it. Apart from the successes in treating patients, paramedics see a lot of suffering and death. They must be prepared to deal with that. “It's a great career for the right person. I would say you have to have a certain level of resilience, along with compassion and wanting to help people,” Bering said. “Sault EMS has a peer support group in which we try to help each other (after tough calls). But you have to be able to know that you can help yourself first, and then you can lean on other people when you need to,” Bering said. The job is rewarding when there’s a good outcome. “You're meeting people at possibly their worst times but you're offering them care and compassion. On the community paramedic side, we build more of a rapport with our patients,” Bering said. “I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying the work.” Prior to becoming chief, Kirkham said she loved being a paramedic on the frontline. “A typical day when you’re out in an ambulance has its own excitement. You never quite know what's around the corner and it requires you to make quick decisions,” Kirkham said. “You have to love people. You have to love the unknown. It's always changing and that part is exciting.” By: Darren Taylor SOOTODAY

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COCHRANE DISTRICT PARAMEDIC SERVICE LAUNCHES NEW “REACH” PROGRAM Cochrane District Services Board has launched of a new pilot project in Timmins through the Cochrane District Paramedic Service. Called Response, Engagement, Assistance & Community Health (REACH), this innovative new project is an initiative designed to address a rapidly growing number of “no patient contact” calls, where emergency services are called by people who see someone lying or sleeping in a public space and are concerned they are experiencing a medical emergency. Paramedics, often accompanied by social workers, assess immediate health needs, provide basic supports, and connect people with community services. REACH does not replace emergency ambulance response, and emergency resources continue to be deployed whenever urgent medical care is required. During its first week of operation, the REACH project connected with 440 individuals, distributed 119 naloxone kits, and handed out over 250 bottles of water. “In its early days, the REACH project is already demonstrating its value by finding and helping people who were avoiding or unable to access medical care despite having serious health needs in addition to preventing 9-1-1 calls through a more appropriate response,” said Marc Renaud, chief of the Cochrane District Paramedic Service. “For us, success is not only about reducing no patient contact calls, but also about reaching vulnerable people, improving health outcomes, and ensuring that no one falls through the cracks.” REACH was created in response to both the growing number of individuals experiencing homelessness across the Cochrane District and a dramatic increase in no patient contact calls. Historically, Cochrane District Paramedic Service responded to approximately 300 to 500 of these calls annually. In 2025, the number grew to approximately 3,000, and it’s projected that paramedics could respond to between 5,000 and 6,000 of these calls in 2026. By: The Daily Press TIMMINS DAILY PRESS