Tuesday, January 22, 2013

** Bizarre upswing in dog attacks keeps UK medics hopping

** BC paramedic/search and rescue specialist killed in pedestrian/truck accident

UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

** A bizarre upward swing in the number of people issuing help hails for dog bites has taken place in Swindon and Royal Wooten Bassett. That is the word from the Swindon Advertiser (January 21) which said paramedics have been kept hopping by responding to emergency calls involving canines. According to the newspaper, 2012 saw practitioners dispatched 37 times for such instances. In one November case, a three year old girl required a medevac chopper after being mauled by several dogs. In another attack in June, a two-year-old boy was so savaged after being bitten by a Staffordshire bull terrier that he required 10 hours of facial reconstruction surgery. Most of the attacks have occurred at residences and involve young children. As a result of the assaults, an area politician is proposing stiffer penalties for owners whose dogs are viciously unruly.

CANADA NEWS

** British Columbia’s EMS community is mourning the loss of a Coquitlam area paramedic. The Province (Cheryl Chan/January 20) said BC Ambulance emergency management superintendent Roland Webb, 37, died January 17th after being hit by a dump truck in Anmore. According to the newspaper, Webb was crossing the street with his dog when the accident happened. With BC Ambulance for 18 years, Webb was also well known in the search and rescue community. He had volunteered with Coquitlam’s S & R since 2002 and taught related courses to those training in the field. In addition, he was an instructor at the Justice Institute. Remembered as a warm and generous man, he leaves two children behind. Funeral services are set for this Friday at 11 a.m. at Port Coquitlam’s Our Lady of the Assumption Church.