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Ottawa Paramedics Headquarters

Last weekend was “Doors Open” in Ottawa, a yearly event during which a number of places open their doors to the public. Not only admission is free, but you get the chance to peek into a number of interesting places which are not usually open to the general public. Being my usual curious self, I decided to go visit the Ottawa Paramedic Headquarters in Walkley.

As much as I like architecture and old buildings, which is what a lot of people come to see during this event, I was more interested in getting an insider peek into the day of the paramedics. Like most people, I occasionally see them racing on the freeway, or I hear the sound of the ambulance siren in the distance and know something is going on—that’s about it.

The paramedic headquarters was built in 2005. This is where all the staff reports before being dispatched. A huge indoors garage is home to what seemed dozens of vehicles, from bicycles (to access crowded places easily) to huge trailers which carry tons of supplies in case of a major emergency.

Several rooms stock the supplies: stretchers and little bags, full of drugs and medical supplies. They are all checked daily and repackaged as needed, and then sealed. The building also has a cleaning station for vehicles, which are all disinfected and checked for damages before being parked again.

Upstairs in the buildings are the staff gym and physiotherapy centre (apparently, this job is hard on the body!) and the emergency control room.

Everything looked so organized and “under control”—I actually found that very comforting. And the paramedics seemed to be a dedicated team!

Ottawa Paramedic Service
Ambulances Parking Lot
Getting The Vehicle Ready
Stretchers
More Stretchers
Supplies
Repackaging Supplies
Waiting for a Call
Cleaning The Vehicles
Ambulance Stock Supplies
An Old Ambulance
Training Room
Staff Gym
Emergency Control Room
Waiting For a Call
Inside of an Ambulance
Ottawa Things To Do on raveable

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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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