This is Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week and you can help learn some of the skills of a paramedic today .
EMS and the Heart and Stroke Foundation are holding a free CPR skills event at the Grey Bruce Health Unit office in Owen Sound.
It takes place from 8:30 AM to 11 AM this morning .
Grey County paramedic Rick Tremblay says learning CPR is something everyone should do — and today, they can learn the skills for free when normally you would pay for a course.
Tremblay notes the job of a paramedic today is a lot more than just giving people a free ride to the hospital.
He says they give people life saving treatment in the field — from administering CPR to giving medications — before even getting to the hospital.
Tremblay says their initial actions save lives.
Tremblay also notes their call volume has increased substantially because of the older population locally.
Paramedics will also be at Walmart in Owen Sound and Hanover from 12 Noon till 8 o’clock today — registering people to be bone marrow and stem cell donors.
