SHUNIAH — After living in a small construction trailer behind a fire station, paramedics in Shuniah are finally making themselves comfortable inside their new home away from home.
After breaking ground earlier this year, the new Shuniah EMS station now operational.
Primary care paramedic Paul Joanes reflected on the differences between the cramped quarters and their spacious new detachment, calling it very accommodating.
“We always kind of crawled over each other and we were cramped trying to share the washrooms and bedroom. There wasn't a lot of space and just trying to keep it climate-controlled was difficult too. There was never a happy medium in there,” said Joanes about the trailer.
The new EMS base has two bathrooms complete with showers and change rooms, two bedrooms, a kitchen and dinner area, a living room with two lounge chairs, and office space.
“We're a bit spread out. We can get a little more personal space to ourselves and we're able to bunk in the trailer that we are in. It's nice to be able to walk off to your room or just sit in the kitchen and then just kind of turn it off for a moment or two and collect yourself,” Joanes said.
Currently, there are four full-time and one part-time paramedic working out of the Shuniah station.
However, Superintendent of District Operations Paula Verin expects more workers to pick up shifts once the new base is operational.
As part of the Superior North EMS master plan, the new base is expected to improve response time in the area. With the attached garage, the bases provide a quick ease of access for the paramedics.
Joanes pointed out that sharing a garage with fire services created a challenge for EMS workers to get to the ambulances promptly.
“We're not in a fire hall with six other vehicles. That made it a bit of a challenge at times,” said Joanes.
Servicing a wide area, Shuniah EMS often fills in the gaps where needed past the jurisdiction.
“Sometimes when there's a big call to the east at Nipigon and Red Rock, sometimes we have to respond towards Terrace Bay and Schreiber will utilize Shuniah to go cover Nipigon. They also do a lot of meets with Armstrong ambulance and then that way we can get Armstrong back to their community quicker,” Verin said.