[skippy the wonder dog]

I wonder what the tox screen will show.

I wonder if we'll ever know.

On the other hand, no, I don't.

[beanmedic]

Man that is some scary video seeing those doctors doing CPR on Fischer....good to know everything turned out alright.

You can see the players calling for the medics with the defibrillators over and you can see how people involved always say that it seems like an eternity passing by before help actually arrives in an emergency situation.

Believe it or not, the people who do the resucitation in those instances are more than likely not even paramedics...they would be members of an Emergency Response service, more or less a better-trained St.John Ambulance attendant. And that's not a bad thing...I'd actually rather have one of those guys working on me than a team doctor who probably hasn't done chest compressions since 3rd year Medical School.

Get back soon Jiri,

Goulet!!!

That's an excellent point. I am a sergeant in the Hamilton St. John division, an advanced medical first responder, also with certification and a standing order to use a defibrillator. We provide our services mostly for the crowd at sporting events. For the CFL games, there are actual paramedics present just in case anything happens on the field. For the Hamilton Bulldogs games (AHL) we again provide our services for the crowd, but it is up to the facility (copps coliseum) to hire responders for the players. in this case they use Ontario Patient Transfer.

There is really no difference between the minimum requirement for OPT and SJA, but the difference is the training. St John divisions train weekly, whereas transfer companies do not train regularly - once you have the certification, it's good until it expires. In many ways, SJA is superior to patient transfer companies in terms of providing emergency medical assistance, but companies like OPT are used more often for sporting events like this because they are paid and the facility can guarantee that they will be there. SJA is strictly volunteer, and sometimes it is difficult to get events covered because everyone has work/family/etc to worry about.

Other places, like the ACC/Skydome hire companies that employ people with advanced qualifications (paramedics, paramedic students, physicians) to provide the care.