They won silver in Europe and now they've been recognized in their home country for potentially saving the lives of people around the world.
Hot on the heels of their medal at the Rallye Rejviz medical rescue competition in the Czech Republic, Canada's Advanced Care Paramedic Competition Team - born and based in Richmond - were honoured on Parliament Hill by the Canadian Electricity Association of Canada (CEA) which represents 34 power authorities across Canada.
Team manager Clark McGuire, a semiretired veteran Richmond paramedic, received the award, along with long-time team member John Richmond, for educating 20 countries in the dangers of high voltage to first responders in the field.
McGuire designed a challenging scenario for the Rallye Rejviz on behalf of Canada, where each country in the competition must respond to a mock call and be judged in their medical performance as if in real life.
In this year's competition Canada's task involved a diabetic man who was having a complex myocardial infarction (heart attack) while driving his car with passengers.
Unfortunately, he crashed his car into a power pole, just hard enough to snap the lines off the pole, which then lands on the car. The responding crews had to not only treat the victims correctly, but also recognize the dangers for their personal safety, requesting the local power authority to shut down the live lines.
".I never saw this coming and we are absolutely thrilled to be recognized in this way," said McGuire.
The proud pair was flown to Ottawa by the CEA along with their wives.
.jpg;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)
