Dear MACLEAN’S
CALL AND RESPONSE I read Maclean’s piece about the plight of paramedics in Canada with interest (“Distress Call,” May 2022). I’m a paramedic from North Vancouver. I spent most of my career with BC Emergency Health Services, working in the Lower Mainland. I became a paramedic because I was passionate about helping others. Then, in 2009, I responded to a tragic call that involved a two-year-old girl. I remember driving home after that shift trying to process what had just happened. I had a two-year-old son of my own at the time. I was diagnosed with PTSD, and I struggled with flashbacks and nightmares. I self-medicated, abusing alcohol and drugs. It was difficult to find the right help due to barriers and stigmas that exist within a first-responder organization. This led…