Paramedics and police officers often answer the calls to deal with the sort of situation many people hope they will never know, and Charlie Shaw wants to make sure the province gives them the recognition they deserve.
Thanks to his advocacy, Bradford’s heritage committee recommended at their May 23 meeting that council endorse the creation of a provincewide long-service medal for police and paramedics, modelled after the existing award for firefighters. Council approved the recommendation without discussion during its June 4 meeting.
To help make that happen, the resolution directs Mayor James Leduc to write to Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, Minister of Citizenship Michael Ford as well as York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney to urge them to co-operate in creating such an award.
While medals already exist in Ontario for firefighters and members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) who serve 20 years or more, there is currently no provincial equivalent for paramedics or municipal/regional police officers.
Shaw, who has been a resident of Bradford for 14 years, working as a paramedic in Toronto and York Region for 33 years and previously serving as a volunteer firefighter in Bradford for 12 years, feels all three services should be recognized equally.
“I would like the province to officially recognize the dedication and sacrifices made by police officers and paramedics, the same way they recognize firefighters in Ontario,” Shaw said as an individual and not as a representative of York Region. “We all miss birthdays and we all have to work significantly important holidays where we miss our families, and the things that you see and some of the things you have to do are not for the general public.”
Shaw is also hoping an annual award ceremony would raise more awareness and spread a better understanding of what paramedics provide to communities across the province.
A day in the life of a paramedic
On any given day, Shaw explained paramedics could be required to answer a wide variety of calls, including overdoses, car accidents, cardiac arrests and strokes just to name a few.
“I like to say that on any one shift, you might have to be an emerg physician, a neurologist, a cardiologist, a midwife, a social worker — you just have no idea what you’re going to come across, which also makes it interesting,” he said.
Some notable calls from Shaw’s career include being the first paramedic through the door in response to a shooting at the Just Desserts Cafe in the Yorkville neighbourhood of Toronto on April 5, 1994, which claimed the life of Vivi Leimonis; being one of the first paramedics on scene in response to a shooting at Toronto’s Caribana parade in 1996; and he’s also delivered more than a few babies throughout his career.
“I generally don’t think I deliver them, because the women deliver them,” he said. “I’m just there to catch and coach.”
After noticing how difficult it was to manoeuvre a full-sized ambulance through the crowds at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto, Shaw also took it upon himself to find a way to improve response times by spearheading the bicycle program for the Toronto Paramedic Services in 1996.
With the blessing of his chief, Shaw took inspiration from the Toronto Police Service’s bicycle program to create a system where two paramedics carrying equipment on separate bicycles could respond better in high-density, high-pedestrian environments like the CNE, Taste of the Danforth, Molson Indy, Caribana, Pride and others to get to those in need and begin treatment sooner while waiting for the full ambulance.
While riding with Toronto police’s 52 Division in 2008 as part of the program, Shaw said he answered a call at the Rogers Centre and worked with a doctor from the Blue Jays to revive a man experiencing cardiac arrest.
“I had the luxury of meeting him at a survivor’s day,” he said. “I got to see somebody that when I arrived he was in cardiac arrest and the next time I saw him I got to shake his hand.”
Inspiration for advocacy
It was a few years later in January 2011 while marching in the funeral of Toronto Police Sgt. Ryan Russel — with whom Shaw had ridden and who was later struck and killed while trying to stop a stolen snowplow — that Shaw met another paramedic from Alberta who had that province’s long-service medal.
In addition, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Yukon have long-service medals for paramedics.
“I thought that was a good idea, and then, when I got on as a volunteer with the fire department and discovered that there was already an existing medal for firefighters, I thought ‘Well, why don’t we have something like that?’” he said.
Some years later, Shaw said he mentioned the idea to Mulroney, but he wasn’t sure of the best way to move forward and make it happen, until a few more years later, when he asked Bradford Councillor Jonathan Scott during last year’s Remembrance Day parade.
Instead of just giving Shaw some advice about how to attract attention to the idea, Scott also joined in the effort.
“That’s been incredibly, incredibly valuable for me getting a little more traction. It’s now not just my voice, it’s a respected councillor in the community,” Shaw said. “He’s helping me push this along in directions and opening doors I would not otherwise have access to.”
For his part, Scott said he was “honoured” to be asked for help getting paramedics “the recognition they deserve” for doing “such important work.”
“We’ve had some success in the past advocating for good ideas with the other governments, and I hope someone at Queen's Park will take up this cause and get a new award done. It's a simple thing to show our thanks,” he said.
As part of the committee’s resolution, a copy is set to be sent to all Ontario municipalities, and Shaw is hoping they will join in the effort to have paramedics and police officers recognized.
