“You look on social media, and people’s lives look great, but that’s not the reality for everyone.”

Mel is an Acting Supervisor for the Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Services.
Published on September 14th, 2020.

Out of the three emergency services, Paramedics are often the forgotten ones.

People are now starting to really understand this career and just how much education and work goes into what we do.

People don’t really understand what we do until they need the ambulance, right?

I’ve worked for the Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Services full-time since 2007. I'm an Acting Supervisor and one of the Paramedic trainers for the Service. I’m also working on a degree in business and emergency services.

I grew up with it. My uncle was a Paramedic and I grew up listening to the scanner all the time, from when I was 3-4 years old.

I got what I believe was COVID-19 around February 20th.

A lot of people at work were getting sick and I ended up with a massive ear infection. I was so exhausted, and I had no taste, no smell; this all lasted for about three weeks, and then life just totally changed when they announced the pandemic in March.

We didn’t have everything implemented at work yet, and I ended up doing a call where the nurse felt we had been exposed to COVID-19. We got taken off the road and my partner and I were the first group to go into isolation on March 13th.

I was in isolation for six days and it was absolutely terrible. We were stuck in a room and couldn't see our families during that time. We were waiting for the results while things were constantly changing around us.

We've been doing this for so long and the protocols are just so natural and so easy, but now we’ve taken a lot of stuff off the truck.

We were wearing N95’s a lot which we were running out of, the whole world was running out of them. Now we’re using respirators, which is tough because it’s so hot and people can’t really hear you well out of them.

I’m proud of all of the new hires this year because they didn’t get to finish school properly or even complete their rideouts. The last six weeks of training are the most crucial for this job.

So, having to jump right in during the pandemic, and then having massive amounts of information change every day, you can’t even begin to explain it.

I think it’s really important, especially during a time like this, that people who are struggling get the help they need. There are a lot of resources out there, but they just may not look the same as they used to.

You look on social media, and people’s lives look great, but that’s not the reality for everyone.

You may be surprised to see who is actually struggling, so check in with your friends and loved ones.

2020: In your Words is a mini-series that shares genuine and candid conversations about 2020 has impacted our community members. From the pandemic, to social isolation, to the Black Lives Matter protests, 2020 has challenged us to grow in so many different ways.

Storytelling by Meris Kieller and The Community Company.

Click here to return to the project page, or keep scrolling for the arrows to jump to the next story.