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economist suntribune health thursday feb 14 2002 y- pioneering paramedic says sexism oh job never an issue by lisa queen staff writer rrivingatthescerieofa traffic accident york region paramedic andrea zanini rushes to the car where a woman is complaining of severe pain in her knees injured when they smashed into the dash board during the collision her partner randy davy tries to convince a dazed young man with blood oozing out of a wound on his forehead he needs medical attention as firefighters dismantle the womans car battery and ensure fluids flowing from the crippled vehicle dont start a fire a police officer inspects the crumpled metal on one side of the young mans car thank god there wasnt a pas senger in there he mutters afraid the male victimhas suf fered a neck or back injury ms zanini and mr davy work with a team of advanced life support paramedics to strap him to a back board he screams in pain i feel very blessed helping people the excitingpart of that fulfilling feeling istogetcoi0fbakinto someones face or get a pulse back they grab a stretcher and get the woman buckled in ms zanini carefully placing a pillow under her wounded knees before loading her on to the ambulance ms zanini consults with mr davy both primary care para medics iaboutthe priority to give their case they deterniinethey will tell the dispatcher they are coming to southlake regional health centre as a priority three meaning their patient needs urgent care but isnt facing a life- threatening emergency despite the seriousness of the morning rush hour collision at davis drive and harry walker parkway in newmarket ms zanini knows the situation could have been much worse it never ceases to amaze me how much luck there is in the wofldshe says as she speeds along davis toward southlakes ambulance bay they could have hit die traffic lights or smashed into the gas tanks of a nearby gas station at 23 ms zanini has been a paramedic with the regions emergency medical services ems since last april she came by way of a private ambulance company where she transferred nonemergency patients between hospitals ms zanini graduated from centennial college in 1999 as one of 54 female paramedics in yorks squad of 172 fulltime ambulance attendants eight of yorks 68 parttime paramedics are women ms zanini says shes never been treated as anything but an equal by male paramedics fire fighters and police officers i feel part of the group i feel there is that mentality all around ive never experienced any chau vinism or sexism she says somewhat surprised the issue of gender would even be a topic of debate during a discussion of her once maledominated profession ms zanini says the excitement and ability to help others are the attrac- tions of her job to be completely honest i wanted initially to be a doctor and thought the best way to get into the field and get medical experi ence and see if i wanted to commit seven or eight years to medical school i would be a paramedic first she says over a cup of coffee- at the newmarket fire hall on gorham street where she is sta tioned at my age its great youre out side its exciting its challenging emotionally physically and men- tally challenging after getting into it its the best job for me theres so much thats fulfilling about it i would- definitely say the most ful filling is helping people giving something back to the community myself ive been blessed with health and a fortunate life i feel very blessed helping people the exciting part of that fulfilling feel ing is to get colour baclcinto some ones face or get a pulse back almost twice ms zaninis age sue wood has been a paramedic for more than 25 years in fact ms wood whose family owned a private ambulance serv ice was torontos first female para medic when she joined in 1976 now a supervisor with york ems ms wood has not only seen the profession evolve but has wit nessed the emerging role of female paramedics its a fabulous job for women theres more opportunities for them every day certainly its not every day if s like a whole new ball game you never know what to expect even though i plan ahead and say thats what i want to accomplish your plans change very quickly in this job sue wood york region em supervisor staff photorob alary york region ems supervisor sue wood was the first female paramedic in toronto in 1976 for everybody if youhave a weak- stomach if you arent a people- person you need to have people skills until the 1970s a simplefirst aid course was all that was required to be an ambulance attendant although ms wood took a onemonth casualty care course at base borden one of the first offi cial training sessions offered to paramedics at the same time college cours es for paramedics were starting while there wasnt overt sexism when ms wood started in the pro fession in fact the male para medics were quite supportive she remembers times when she felt like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole there were questions about whether a woman could handle the physically demanding aspects of the job she learned not to answer the phone at the station because jeal- ous wives and girlfriends would grill themeri about her presence ms wood put tremendous pres sure on herself to succeed aware she was a pioneer ms zanini believes ms wood should be recognized for helping open the profession to women i have a lot of respect for sue she opened the road for women like myself the respect women have gained over the years is mirrored by the advances and appreciation the profession has enjoyed in the last 25 years rather than being seen as glori fied taxi drivers getting the ill and injured to hospital so medical teams could save lives paramedics now work in prehospital set tings the range of treatments they can provide in the field especially those trained in advanced life sup- port techniques has expanded exponentially over the years ms wood works 12hour shifts an ems supervisors vehicle is her roving office for the first four and half hours of her shift ms wood is on her own until another supervisor comes on board s wood has countless tasks to perform among them checking and maintaining rrg staffing levels and driving tolyarif bus stations to handout new r equipment and troubleshoot any problems- just before noon thursday ms wood was trying to juggle a back up of ambulances beginning in toronto emergency rooms paramedics routinely cross munic ipal boundaries paramedics cant leaye emer gency rooms until hospitals agree to take patients off their hands but withers filling up with walkin traffic hospitals aire reluctant to take paramedics patients r ms wood knows the frustration that can build as paramedics and ambulances remain out of com mission until the backlog clears about four times a week york emss five supervisors respond to incidents in the field ms wood still gets the same adrenaline rush responding to inci dents she had as a rookie every day its like a whole new ball game you never know what to expect even though 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