The Polar Opposites ……or not? Comparing rural ambulance in Canada and Australia

Abstract

Two ambulance crews respond to two different incidents simultaneously. Both crews are highly skilled practitioners, both crews are hallway through their shifts, both crews are using specialised vehicles to make the journey, and both crews will take approximately 70 minutes to get one scene. The dispatch information sent to one crew indicates that they are responding to a bear attack on a remote property whereas the other crew is sent information they are responding to a jellyfish sting at a remote beach. Both of these situations are equally critical, and both involve a person's life hanging delicately in the balance. One has occurred in subzero temperatures, and one has occurred during a heatwave. One has occurred in the morning, and one has occurred in the afternoon, but these case have occurred simultaneously. This is paramedicine at its finest, this is remote paramedicine at the extremes.