A food bank or a community lunch program may not be typical training grounds for aspiring paramedics, but Niagara College has launched a new initiative to do just that for its Paramedic students in an effort to add empathy and other ‘soft’ skills to their tool kits.
From helping with meal prep to stocking food bank shelves, second-year Paramedic students have been working shifts at the Hope Centre in Welland, which serves some of the most vulnerable citizens in the area. The experience has been part of their clinical placement course since September. All 50 students enrolled in the course are required to complete two three-hour shifts at the Hope Centre: one assisting with the community lunch program, and another at the food bank.
In addition to experiences that help to improve their technical or ‘hard skills’ such as ride-outs in ambulances with Niagara Emergency Services, the new initiative aims to help students build ‘soft skills’ like empathy, compassion and communication. It also serves to teach them the value of community service, and help them become more comfortable with clients from vulnerable populations such as those who experience poverty and homelessness, mental illness or addictions.
“This is truly a lesson in humility for our students,” said Community and Health Studies dean Carolyn Triemstra. “Paramedics can be challenged in the field, particularly when working with clients from vulnerable populations. Through this new initiative, our students gain experience with vulnerable populations before they enter the field, while enhancing their ‘soft skills’ that are valuable to being a paramedic.”
Clinical supervisor Nate Alaimo noted that the new initiative was launched as a response to a recent shift in the types of calls paramedics have been responding to.
“While we were typically used to responding to calls at a person’s house, a lot of paramedicine has recently turned to mental health and to the vulnerable populations who don’t have houses, don’t have food, or the options of many of the services we take for granted,” said Alaimo. “By working with some of the more vulnerable populations, our students are learning to be empathetic, be compassionate and really be able to understand the differences in peoples’ lives, and where they’re coming from.”
Niagara EMS system transformation project lead Karen Lutz-Graul, who is also the commander of quality assurance and performance standards, noted the need for such training.
“The addition of this new initiative in paramedic education aligns with the transformative changes occurring within Niagara EMS and across the field of paramedicine as a whole, which are aimed at ensuring all those that we serve are provided care that is holistically able to better treat those in our community who may be vulnerable or have social inequities,” said Lutz-Graul. “Ensuring that future paramedics have the skills and training to provide this care is crucial to their future careers as paramedics within our community of service providers.”
At the Hope Centre’s Community Lunch program – which serves a hot lunch at noon for to up to 80 people Monday to Friday – students assist with tasks like food preparation, cleaning and serving; while at the food bank – which averages about 30 clients per day – they help stock shelves and assist clients with their grocery lists. When they aren’t needed to complete tasks however, students focus on mingling with clients.
Shannon Munro, fund development and community coordinator at the Hope Centre, said that the students’ contributions have been invaluable – not only as needed extra hands to assist with the delivery of the Centre’s services but in their client interactions.
“It’s a two-way street with what’s learned and gained between our clients and the students,” she said. “There can be a lot of barriers between the vulnerable population and people in uniform, and this is a good opportunity for our clients to become more comfortable with them.”
“Our clients build trust talking to the Paramedic students,” said Gina Couldery, food services coordinator. “They’ve been very interested in the students who have been coming here every week.”
Students noted they value the experience they are gaining. Nathan Wise believes it will improve the kind of paramedic he will be. “To be the best patient advocate, we need to feel like we’re on the same team to better connect with and treat patients,” he said. “I think it’s important for us to knock down those barriers that divide us, like socioeconomic status, and just be able to connect with people.”
Shyann Woods valued the experience of interacting with clients. “It gave me insight into how other people live that I wouldn’t normally have been around,” she said. “Having conversations, asking people who they are and what they’ve done, it was simple – just like having a conversation with a friend.”
Eric Vangoch believes that learning about the process of using a food bank and what it means for clients will help him and his classmates remain judgement-free as paramedics.
“The big thing for me was to gain a sense of what the clients go through on a daily basis and what it takes for them to feed their family – the humility it takes,” he said. “The more we know about our clients and what they go through daily, why they’re in the position they’re in, it gives us a better idea when we’re responding on the road.
“People are in these positions for a reason and that reason may not be in their control, so why would we make a judgement about that, or provide any lesser form of care because of their situation?”
Additional community experience
As part of their clinical placement class, Paramedic students also complete shifts assisting seniors at the South Niagara Health and Wellness Centre (SNHWC) and Community Support Services of Niagara (CSSN).
At CCSN’s Welland, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls locations – all Niagara Regional Housing sites – students assist with a Wellness Supportive Living program. They interact with senior clients/tenants at coffee and breakfast programs, engage in conversations and provide one-on-one attention.
“We are challenged with time and resources to have meaningful one-on-one conversations with all clients while delivering a variety of both congregate dining and social/recreation programs in a group setting,” said CCSN executive director Carolyn Askeland. “The students have allowed CSSN to ensure that those clients with the greatest need are provided with a dedicated individual to listen and engage in conversation. In addition, it has allowed CSSN staff to give attention to our ‘well’ clients who are sometimes overlooked within the busyness of day-to-day operations.”
At the SNHWC, students assist with the wellness component of the Ambulatory Rehab program – geared to helping older adults – and practice their hard and soft skills. They take blood pressure and vitals on clients and work on their communication skills by participating in health education sessions and exercises alongside clients.
“Students are provided opportunities to work among a team, problem solve, and practice different communication strategies, all essential skills needed to be successful on the job,” said SNHWC wellness resource coordinator Jenn Bandi. “Our clients love the opportunity to interact with the students and learn about their field of study and future aspirations.
“In turn, our clients get the most current information in the field and practical strategies to manage their health.”
