Protest congestion can affect emergency response, paramedics warn
CBC
As hundreds of vehicles snarled traffic in downtown Vancouver on Saturday to support a cross-Canada protest against vaccine mandates, one paramedic worried he wasn't going to get a tiny patient to hospital in time.
"I had a six-month-old having anaphylaxis … very, very serious, and unfortunately our response and our transport was slowed down because of this," said the paramedic.
"And I know I'm not the only one."
CBC News has granted the paramedic anonymity over fears he could be fired for speaking out.
He said he respects people's right to protest and gather but the congestion on the roads Saturday made it difficult for people like him to do their jobs.
"The challenge was that every single road artery in and out of the city was blocked," he said. "It didn't matter which way we went ... even with lights and sirens trying to clear the way."
Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that requires urgent treatment.
The paramedic said he eventually made it to hospital in time and the baby received the care they needed to recover.
He said for the most part people weren't disrespectful or intentionally trying to get in the way of his ambulance, but the stress of potentially not getting to hospital in time was excruciating.
"This job is challenging enough. It was a brutal feeling," he said. "The patient comes first and I couldn't do that. Honestly, it broke my heart. I'm still having a hard time with it."
The protest in Vancouver on Saturday was held in solidarity with the thousands of protesters who arrived in Ottawa on the weekend to protest vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions, in what's been dubbed the Freedom Convoy.
Similar rallies took place in Kelowna, Prince George and Victoria on Saturday.
Police in Vancouver and Victoria said other than traffic congestion throughout the cities, there were no issues and all convoy participants obeyed all rules of the road.
In Ottawa on Sunday honking and cheering continued as thousands of protesters gathered near Parliament Hill.
A 29-year-old registered massage therapist has been accused by London police of sexually assaulting a client, and investigators say they believe there may be other victims.
A mass shooting in which 15 people were killed during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach was "a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State," Australia's federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Tuesday.
A three-man committee will lead Newfoundland and Labrador's independent review of the Churchill Falls memorandum of understanding with Quebec, and it has four months to do it.
A Yarmouth, N.S., woman has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2020 death of her 17-month-old son.
A new agreement signed between Parks Canada and eight Mi'kmaq First Nations in New Brunswick will give the Mi'kmaq a hand in the management of national parks and historic sites.
A Quebec teachers' union released the findings of a survey of its members on Monday that found 90 per cent of respondents said they were victims of some form of violence at work.
A pair of artificial intelligence companies plan to build a data centre south of Winnipeg powered by natural gas turbines.
A Saskatoon teen is admitting she planned and executed a fiery assault on a classmate at Evan Hardy Collegiate in September 2024.
Boyle Street Community Services officially opened the doors to its long-awaited new community health space in Edmonton’s Chinatown on Monday.
The power is out for thousands in B.C.'s South Coast Monday, and flooding is expected in parts of the Fraser Valley and North Shore Mountains, as another round of heavy rain batters the province.
Hundreds of Calgarians attended the 37th annual menorah lighting at city hall Monday night — a typically joyous event tinged with grief this year by the recent deadly shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia.
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says a man has been fined $50,000 for illegally hunting and killing wildlife in multiple incidents across British Columbia.
A fire burning for more than two weeks inside two condo buildings in Thorncliffe Park has been extinguished and residents will return to their units in stages, according to officials.Toronto Fire Services has been fighting the blaze at 11 Thorncliffe Park Drive and 21 Overlea Boulevard since it started on Nov. 27.