Lambton County EMS offer end of life patients transportation for community outings

More than 50 Lambton County paramedics are on board with a new program, offering palliative patients a chance for a final visit with friends, family or a hockey game.

The idea for the community transportation program was initially conceived by Lambton County paramedic Stephen Adlington.

At the time, a young patient wanted to visit the Blue Water Bridge for some bridge fries, from the famous truck underneath the span.

"I approached my management at the time, and we did set it all up," he said. "Unfortunately, she declined quicker than we expected, and we weren't able to do the trip."

The idea "went by the wayside for a couple of years," according to Adlington, adding he never gave up on the idea.

... Most of the stuff I foresee happennig isn't going to cost anything ...- Stephen Adlington, Lambton County paramedic

After polling coworkers about their potential interest this summer, Adlington proposed the idea to his supervisors, who then proposed the idea to the Service Employees International Union.

The union,County of Lambton and St. Joseph's Hospice are all supporting the program, according to a Tuesday media release.

Adlington said he didn't expect the project to get off the ground until 2020, ultimately receiving confirmation of the project's approval last week.

Ambulance available

Paramedics volunteering to participate in the program will be able to use a spare Lambton County ambulance when needed.

"The idea is to have a meeting with the volunteers and the family [of the patient] and potentially the palliative care team if they're available before we do the trip, just to say 'Hi, this is who we are, this is who you'll be with on the day of, and so on," Adlington said. "Then hopefully within a short period after that, we can go there, pick them up, take them to what they want to do and bring them home."

Adlington said trips will have a two to four hour time limit, with exceptions as necessary.

Additionally, he'll be reaching out to organizations across the region, like the Sarnia Sting hockey team, for donations.

"Say they wanted to go to a Stings hockey game, I would approach the Sarnia Sting board, and say 'Hey, this is what we're doing, could we get a couple of tickets?'" Adlington said. "But most of the stuff I foresee happening isn't going to cost anything anyways."