The Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board hosted the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art land ambulance base in Emo last Wednesday afternoon.
The new base, located at 32 Florence St., is designed to house one emergency vehicle.
It also is equipped with crew quarters, an office, a locker-room and washroom facilities, a single car bay, and a kitchen.
“We’ve experienced lots of issues with the ambulance bases over the last four years and these facilities make our board tremendously proud of these state-of-the-art operations and our employees,” said John Callan, a member of the DSSAB.
“The transition has been remarkable and Dan McCormick deserves a round of applause,” he added.
The ribbon was cut by Callan and fellow DSSAB trustees Peter Van Heyst and Linda Armstrong, along with CAO Donna Dittaro.
“Dan has spent a lot of time working on these projects and I’m grateful and thankful for his extreme dedication,” Dittaro remarked.
“We’ve tried to create a safe health environment and we are proud of this, so I hope this is what you [the employees] wanted and had hoped for,” she added.
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, those on hand were invited inside to celebrate with staff over cake and refreshments.
Last Wednesday’s grand-opening also included word that the local ambulance service will be bringing the Ministry of Health’s fully-equipped emergency vehicle into the district more frequently for larger events.
The vehicle, which was on loan from the Kenora ambulance base, was present at the grand-opening in Emo. Then it headed east to Fort Frances, where it was on site at the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship to respond to medical emergencies.
Back in June, during the grand opening of the new ambulance base in Fort Frances, Dittaro announced the winner of the contest to design the new service crest for the Rainy River District EMS.
The chosen crest was designed by Fort Frances EMS attendant Mary Waghorn, who also submitted a written explanation of the different elements of the crest and the significance of the colour scheme, including green for the forests and fields, blue for Ontario’s waters, white for the skies and clouds, and red for aboriginal peoples.
The crest also includes the star of life (representing the six-system function of the EMS), the trillium (Ontario’s provincial flower), the maple leaf, and the ECG symbol.
Each paramedic employed within the district wears the crest on their sleeve, and the ambulances are branded by it.
The base in Emo is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Two paramedics always are stationed there ready to serve the community in case of an emergency.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
