This morning, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will meet with the Saskatoon Paramedic Association during Paramedic Services Week.  Medavie Health Services West says the theme for this week is “diversity in paramedicine”.

The Saskatoon ambulance service says diversity extends to the types of patient(s) and their needs, the provider (who is helping) and the profession as a whole in what we can do (scope of practice).

Medavie rolled out some numbers to illustrate the differences in communities and demand. In Alberta northeast which services 11 communities and averages 18,000 responses there are 195 paramedics. In Alberta Central which serves four communities and sees approximately 15, 500 responses there are 112 paramedics. In Saskatchewan as a a comparison, Moose Jaw and Central Butte with 33 paramedics answer approximately 6,100 calls and serve a population of about 40,000. In Saskatoon paramedics respond to approximately 40,000 calls in a year serving a population of 352,000 people and are staffed with 177 paramedics.