Tuesday, November 13, 2007

** Calgary EMS looking to hire

** US senator’s nephew charged with trying to kill EMRs

CANADA NEWS

** Calgary is apparently looking to hire 67 new paramedics. That is the word from the Calgary Sun (Dave Dormer/November 10) which quoted EMS Chief Tom Sampson as saying the additional staff is needed to boost response times challenged by rising call volumes. Sampson has appealed to city council to factor the extra hires into next year’s budget. Currently, about 78 per cent of life threatening calls are responded to in under eight minutes;the gold standard is 90 per cent.

UNITED STATES NEWS

** The nephew of a Nevada senator has been charged with attempting to murder two EMRs. WMAQ (November 9) said Eric Ensign, who is related to Senator John Ensign, is currently in custody on the charges, and has been additionally tagged with driving drunk and tampering/injury to an emergency motor vehicle. According to the news station, Ensign became combative laast Friday after EMS workers were called to deal with an inebriated man. Discovered inert behind the steering wheel of his car, he eventually revived, using his vehicle to try to run down the providers. He also slammed into a fire truck on scene and physically fought with practitioners before he was restrained. A spokesman for Senator Ensign’s office declined to comment on the matter.