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Retiring paramedic recognized for 30 years of service Ladner’s John Baril was a geologist when a first aid course changed his life forever MARK BOOTH
m b o o t h @ d e l t a - o p t i m i s t .c o m
After 30 years of emergency calls, including more than a decade in his hometown, John Baril plans to be spending plenty of time enjoying B.C.’s wilderness. “My wife and I are going away on a couple of camping trips and I’ll just be pursuing my mountaineering passion,” he smiled during a recent interview with the Optimist. The Ladner resident completed his final full-time shift as a paramedic with B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS)/B.C. Ambulance Service on July 5. His supervisors Robert Whincup, Manager of Patient Care and Delivery (Cloverdale-Boundary) and Dave Leary, Paramedic Unit Chief Ladner Station, marked the occasion with a special plaque presentation, recognizing his 30 years of service. “It’s been nice to have somebody like John that does his work here, lives locally and provides that hometown feel,” said Leary. “Being a paramedic, it can be tough, it can be trying and it can be stressful. But it’s a very rewarding job.” Baril was in his late 20s
MARK BOOTH PHOTO
Retiring Ladner paramedic John Baril (centre) was presented a 30 year service plaque during his final shift on July 5 from Ladner Station Paramedic Unit Chief Dave Leary (left) and Robert Whincup, Manager Patient Care and Delivery Cloverdale-Boundary Bay BCEHS|BC Ambulance Service.
and living in the Yukon as a geologist when the company he worked for was looking for a volunteer to take a first aid course. It proved to be a lifechanging experience.
“Something clicked in my brain when I did the course. I had a really excellent instructor and I just suddenly fell in love with this whole first aid thing, to the point where I asked
myself maybe I’m in the wrong profession,” he said. Some rough times for the mineral market made Baril’s decision to leave behind his geologist career after six years
even easier. He joined B.C. Ambulance in 1992 and eventually ended up at the Ladner Station where he has worked for the last 12 years. He has also raised his family here with his two boys coming through Delta Secondary. “I have met a lot of nice people through the years, but the reality is we are so understaffed that we don’t actually spend a lot of our time here. We probably spend a lot more time in Richmond and Surrey. Those two areas in particular. We’re actually all over the place,” he added. The last few years have been particularly challenging from the ongoing opioid crises to attending calls amid the pandemic and wearing additional PPE gear for added safety, not knowing what situation he was walking into. “We have got used to it but it’s been a real tough go,” said Baril. “Like anyone that denies COVID is a thing I can tell you it’s definitely real because we are the ones that have been transporting everybody. We’re going into a metal box (ambulance) with somebody who is coughing and in those early days we didn’t know much about it.”
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