Parkland Ambulance presented awards to their employees last Friday during a virtual Christmas party.
The series of awards include Employee Anniversary Awards, Most Thank-you’s, Rookie of the Year, Telecommunicator of the Year and Employee(s) of the Year.
Employees voted for the awards through email, with the exception of anniversary awards and the Most Thank-you’s award.
“Each of these people stand out in their achievements. They’re people that the staff emulate, the staff look up to, they may be their mentors,” spokesperson Lyle Karasiuk said
Employee Anniversary Awards recognize years served in five year denominations.
Jessica Anderson , Elliot Haines, Levon Nagy, Kate Sander, and Marty Taylor celebrated five years of service. Oliver Jantz and Brody Anderson celebrated 10 years and 15 years of service, respectively. Sheldon Hirschfeld celebrated 25 years of service.
Danielle Bolduc received the award for “Most Thank-you’s”. The award recognizes a paramedic who has the most positive survey responses. Parkland Ambulance sends surveys out to everyone who uses the service and matches them with the paramedics on the call.
Jayden Samson was awarded Rookie of the Year. Rookies are employees who have been with Parkland for two years or less, Karasiuk said. The award recipient is recognized for demonstrated leadership and initiative.
“(Jayden) is super pleasant, efficient, a great partner and always ready to run a call no matter the time or type of call. He gets stuff done without having to ask and is a very
obvious leader,” one vote read.
Betty Lussier was awarded the Telecommunicator of Year. One voter said Lussier is kind and reliable.
“(Lussier’s) level-headed and shifts get crazy and (she) still remains pleasant to work with. If there’s anyone I trust to get me somewhere, it’s (her),” the vote read.
Chris Pacey, Ramsay Bellisle and JJ Fenez each tied for Employee of the Year. Karasiuk said this is the first time three people have tied for the award.
Pacey has been with Parkland for eight years. A voter mentioned that Pacey works hard every shift and completes extra tasks for the service.
Bellisle has been with Parkland for 23 years. One voter recalled a time when Bellisle was their partner on a homicide call.
“I just remember feeling a little panicked until Ramsay showed up. He calmed me down without having to say anything, he just did his thing told me what he needed and we were off to the hospital,” the voter said after the call, Bellisle checked up one them. “I’ll never forget that, it was the first time someone said good job to me and I’ll always respect him for that.”
Fenez has been with the service for four years. One voter said Fenez can make quick decisions during stressful calls
“He quickly makes decisions and stays level headed throughout an entire stressful situation. I’ve had the chance to run some really great calls with JJ and I see him be so comfortable and calm in such a stressful situation.”
Awards are usually handed out at the annual Christmas party but this year the service had to opt for a virtual party over Zoom instead. Karasiuk said that the leadership team surprised staff at their homes during the Zoom call.
“It was pretty neat for us to drive around the city and surprise our staff, present the awards and share some of those memorable moments…it was really well received by our staff,” Karasiuk said.
