A paramedic's story of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash

I started the week with an announcement to staff, friends and family that as of April 1st, my husband Chris and I are the proud new owners of Northeast EMS. It was a busy but fun week tying up loose ends on the business turnover. After a quiet day in the office, I was looking forward to having supper and a cocktail that Friday night with my husband and the kids, celebrating that we made it through our first week—with only a few hiccups.

It was close to 5 pm on Friday and I was getting into my car to pick up my two kids from daycare when dispatch called. ‘Semi vs. bus on highway 35 and 335 almost exactly halfway between Nipawin and Tisdale’. After instructing dispatch to call in all crews, I started to call every single employee on our phone list. The seriousness of the situation didn't sink in to most of the staff. Dustin, a 5-year employee, just laughed and said, ‘yeah right, what's up?’. ‘I'm serious,’ I said—to which he responded, ‘I'm coming right now’.