The United Way of Bruce Grey dropped of 23 EMS Kettles to Grey County Paramedics this morning.
The charity says on social media, the bins are for Emergency Medical Services in Grey and Bruce to always have in their ambulances. Each bin contains granola bars, oatmeal, hot chocolate, compostable cups, biodegradable spoons, and a squishable kettle.
They explain, “When paramedics can offer a warm drink and food, it could really make a difference depending on the situation they are in.”
United Way of Bruce Grey Executive Director Francesca Dobbyn says, roughly the same amount of bins are going to Bruce County as well.
She says, “We were approached by the paramedics to supply them with some hats and mitts and some granola bars so that if they were doing some homelessness outreach, community Paramedicine, things like that, they had something on the ambulances handy to them.”
Some local organizations developed what’s known as the Supportive Outreach Services Project (SOS) which is a four agency collaborative homelessness outreach project in partnership with Paramedics, the Canadian Mental Health Association Grey Bruce, the United Way, and Grey Bruce Health Services.
She says that project, it got her thinking about what other items paramedics might be able to use, explaining, “What could we stash on a ambulance under all the various circumstances where an ambulance is kind of parked versus going from point-A of a call to a hospital?” says Dobbyn.
She explains, perhaps they’re at the scene of a fire in order to assist firefighters if they need medical help, “And they’ve got the homeowners, and you know– here’s something warm…or if they’re out doing homelessness support, or they come across somebody who doesn’t necessarily need transportation to the hospital but definitely needs a moment, if there’s a mental health call and having some food would really help with that situation.”