k e e w s i h t
16 PAGES
FRIDAY, November 6, 2020
vote x November 9
your voice oN city couNcil
DR. JOHN CORRIGAN Authorized by the committee to elect Dr. John corrigan
Quiet look over the city from the Souris River
Photo — Sabrina Kraft
The first week of November was slightly warmer than usual, but still cold enough that there is a slight cover of ice over the Souris River.
Life as a rural First Responder and farmer is busy
By Greg Nikkel An axiom of volunteers is that if you want something done, you find the busiest person in the community and it will get done – a truth that Fillmore producer Russ Leguee knows all too well. Besides farming with his family near Fillmore, he is the reeve of the RM of Fillmore, and serves as a First Responder, an emergency medical responder and a volunteer fire fighter, among other things. He spoke about his life as a First Responder and volunteer EMR in a presentation to the Weyburn Rotary Club via Zoom. As he explained, it
takes a team to make it all work, and his family forms that team for all of the activities and the volunteering they do. Russ and wife Sharon farm with daughters Sarah and Amber, and her husband Erik Nikolejsin, and son Jake. “This family team makes it possible for me to do what I do,” he said, noting he began as an RM councilor in 2001, and in 2003 the Fillmore Ambulance was in need of people, so he took courses in CPR and first aid, and began life as an emergency medical responder. “At the same time, the fire department needed volunteers. It seemed they all fit together in one way
or another,” said Leguee, noting that when he’s on call as an EMR, he gets 2.19 an hour, plus $100 per call. As a first responder, “every time there’s a call, if it’s an emergency call, it fans out to all of us, and if we’re available we’ll dash out. We do have a first responder bag that’s full of just about everything you can imagine, and we’ve added an auto defibrillator because we’re just too far away from anyone,” he said. “We cover a large area, as we are backup for Stoughton, Kipling and Indian Head. We operate with nine active members, including three primary care paramedics and six
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EMRs, and we also have a nurse practitioner as a first responder, so it’s nice to have that.” Leguee is on call about five to six days a month, 24 hours a day, and carry a radio with him while he’s on his farm. “We don’t sit at the ambulance garage waiting for a call, we’re at home farming. Sometimes I can go an entire shift and not get a call, sometimes you get three in a day. You just don’t know when you have that radio on your belt. It’s like a little time bomb, you never know when it’s going to go off,” said Leguee. When they do go out on a call, they will be gone for a minimum of four hours
as they are a distance from any hospital. They go to the scene of the call, do their work and then go to a receiving hospital, which could be Estevan, Weyburn, Arcola, Kipling, Indian Head, or the Regina General or Pasqua. “We’ve also had the privilege of working with STARS. They are a great group of people, if you ever get a chance to support them,” he said. “They can get here in a hurry and really take control of the situation if we’re in a little deeper than we can handle.” Leguee estimates they respond to about 180 calls a year on average, “so you just never know what’s go-
ing to come.” About half of the calls are medical or are a transfer of a patient from one facility to another, and a small percentage are a dire life-or-death emergency call. “It’s tremendously rewarding for me to help someone out on what might be the worst day of their life, and as much on the other side, it’s disheartening if you can’t help or they just gone too far and there’s nothing you can do,” said Leguee, adding that after every call he goes back over the incident in his head to think about what happened, and what he could’ve done better. Continued on Page 2
WE ARE OPEN. Maurer’s Meats Ltd. City Centre Mall, Weyburn
“Where quality & customers are No. 1”
4
$ 50
Store Hours: Mon. - Sat. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
/pkg.
306-842-4689
We reserve the right to limit quantities. Prices are subject to change.
We will be CLOSED on Wednesday, November 11th.