Paramedic Mike Jolin had a Quiet Pride.
Industrial EMS in Canada is really in the fledgling stages of development and even some of our big city colleagues are unaware of it. Mike Jolin, himself, worked very hard to portray this facet of our profession in a very positive light.
Unfortunately, his passing has highlighted the dangerous environment in which all EMS providers work each day. It matters not if the scene is a traffic accident that you happen upon on a highway, your grandfather’s heart attack, or responding lights and sirens to a mother’s plea to help her sick child. Industrial services are, therefore, no less important than services to the public at large. Like city medics, we care for family breadwinners, only we do this in remote isolated environments.
Many hours are spent on standby. When we have internet connections, we use them effectively. This is were EMT Mike shined. He was a commentator and a mentor for the new breed of health care providers. He regularly kept in touch with colleagues, family and EMS friends. Taking advantage of modern communication approaches like email, he believed it important to forge a sense of solidarity within the Canadian EMS community. He also used his downtime studying, researching medical information, training and preparing for that certain “CALL” that might stretch his skills to the limit. Ultimately, it was others who were tested when they had to attend on Mike who became the “man down.”
As emergency providers, we often hide our on-the-job emotional scars from the public. Cool heads, hearts, and souls prevail. But this past weekend, when practitioners from across the country gathered to attend the memorial service in Mike’s honour, we had the chance to grieve and to be quietly proud. We celebrated his memory. There were no dry eyes in the house. We also had the opportunity to bond, melded together in an awareness that one of our own had passed and it had not gone unnoticed.
Will Paramedic Mike, a very dedicated family man, ever know of how much of an impact he made on others. In my heart, I believe he does. Perhaps, his young son said it best when he quoted a line from the Cat Stevens song Cats in the Cradle and the Silver Spoon. “You know I am going to be like you Dad. You know I am going to be just like youâ€
A Grieving Brother Paramedic and now a new surrogate Uncle with a newfound quiet pride.
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