A Saskatoon emergency room doctor has been given the Saskatoon Fire Department’s Award of Merit.
Fire Chief Morgan Hackl presented the award to Dr. Mark Wahba in response to his decision to call the fire department directly, last Thursday, that led to a building being checked for Carbon Monoxide exposure. Dr. Wahba had treated patients with headaches from the building and Chief Hackl says the decision likely saved numerous lives. Hackl says it was crucial to have an immediate response and lives were saved that day because of Dr. Wahba’s quick actions and all emergency services working together to mitigate the situation.
Dr. Wahba humbly accepted the award via zoom, and said he was honoured and the situation hit close to home, with the building a few blocks from where he lives. Wahba says he didn’t understand the full gravity of the situation until dispatch called back to tell him the Carbon Monoxide levels in the building were really high, and they were evacuating the building. Wahba hopes moving forward that all homes and buildings will have Carbon Monoxide detectors. He’s happy many terrible outcomes were avoided and that attention on a big scale is being brought to Carbon Monoxide awareness.
Dr. Wahba wants to share the award with everyone in healthcare as well as his ER, EMS, fire and police colleagues. He adds he’s proud to be apart of that team. Wahba says it has been a tough time for front line workers, along with everyone else during COVID-19 and it’s nice to get a win.
While presenting the award via ZOOM, Fire Chief Morgan Hackl says whether it was intuition, or conscious thought, Wahba’s actions saved numerous lives. Hackl says Carbon Monoxide is a silent killer and when symptoms are not recognized it can cause death. He concluded that Wahba’s actions to take ownership of the situation were commendable, and speak to the culture of Saskatoon’s community.
