Paramedic made a mark on the community

One of the founders of ambulance services in Okotoks has responded to her last emergency.

Virdell Barclay retired from her career as an emergency medical technician (EMT) after 30 years working in the Okotoks area. Barclay was well-known in the community and part of the original group who brought ambulatory service to the town in 1986.

“Way back when Okotoks did not have an ambulance,” said Barclay. “We had to wait for an ambulance to come from High River or Calgary. So there was a group of us that decided we would go and take the training and we would start responding to calls here with backup from High River.”

At first, Barclay and her team members carried the radios with them as volunteers. They were only paid if they responded to a call, and would receive nominal compensation of $10 per hour. Their dispatch service was handled by the High River Hospital at the time.

As years went by, the volunteer service slowly transitioned into a full-time paid position. Okotoks ambulance moved from the High River Hospital to become Highwood EMS, then to become the Foothills Regional Emergency Medical Services, and eventually came under the umbrella of Alberta Health Services, she said.

Born and raised in High River, Barclay chose to remain in the community and served her home region as an EMT for 30 years.

“People keep telling me this is such a big thing, 30 years,” said Barclay. “I just keep thinking, doing something you love for 30 years doesn’t mean anything to me. It was an awesome job.”

She enjoyed meeting people on the job and knowing that no two days would ever be the same. An EMT can respond to 10 cardiac calls in a row and every single one of them will be different, she said.

Some days were more difficult than others, but she said it’s all about helping others.

“You meet people at their worst, and your hope is that you can make their day a little better,” said Barclay.

She’s seen a lot of changes over 30 years, from differences in how ambulance services are dispatched to major growth and development in Okotoks.

When the ambulance first got up and running, she said it was a big week if they responded to one or two calls.

“Now Okotoks is so busy, and there are two ambulances,” said Barclay. “It’s not unheard of in a 12-hour shift to do four or five calls – and that’s in each ambulance, so there’s 10 or more each day.”

One significant change has been responding to calls in Calgary. With emergency services centralized under AHS, she said dispatchers are able to see whether a rural ambulance is the closest unit to a call, and they are dispatched to respond. This makes days a lot busier, she said.

Through her career Barclay took on many roles, including testing EMTs and paramedics to become licensed with the Alberta College of Paramedics, and working with “preceptors” – EMTs in training.

Her favourite part of the job was meeting people and learning about them while on a call, she said.

“That was a nice thing about rural EMS, was when we picked up people we had time with them,” said Barclay. “Some patients you’d spend hours with before you got them into a bed in the hospital.”

Having grown up in the community and being well-known also meant Barclay could respond to a call involving people she knew at any time. Over her career, she has picked up her own mother three or four times, she cared for her parents’ friends, her own friends and their kids.

“You would be amazed how many people when you walk in are just so happy it’s you, because they know you, or they’ve known you since you were a kid, so for them it was a good thing in a lot of cases,” said Barclay. “You always have to hope that at the end of the day, you made things better and made them a little more comfortable.”

Her one regret is not keeping track of how many babies she delivered on the job, she said. There were quite a few over 30 years, and she said only about a dozen are clear in her memory.

“That’s a good part of the job. It’s one of the scariest calls, but when everything goes well it’s a good part of the job,” said Barclay.

Sometimes the community helps her remember. While out to dinner in Turner Valley once she was approached by a woman who asked whether her name was Virdell. She had delivered her baby 12 years earlier.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re 01-01-01,’” said Barclay. “I delivered a baby on Jan. 1, 2001, and here he was, 12 years old, and they had moved away but were back visiting and just happened to go to that restaurant.”

She said the years on the job wouldn’t have been the same without her partners, who were like an extension of her family. One partner worked with her for 17 years.

“That’s quite something, 17 years with one partner is a long time,” said Barclay. “I think that’s a bigger milestone than 30 years on the job.”

When her partner took maternity leave for a year, Barclay worked with Christie Nicholson, who was 21 years old at the time.

“I was a little nervous at first because she was so passionate about the job and she’d already been here for 17 years when I came,” said Nicholson. “She was an amazing mentor.”

Nicholson said it was good to learn from someone who knew the community and loved the job. Her calm demeanour was remarkable, she said.

“There was nothing that really fazed her,” said Nicholson. “She was so great to work with. I think it’s a big loss for us, for sure.”