Staff Profile: Alain Gagne - Primary Care Paramedic
January 28, 2025
28 January, 2025
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Timmins
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By: Par: Justyn Aleluia
Can you start by introducing yourself and your position here at Ornge?
My name is Alain Gagne, I am a Primary Care Paramedic working out of Timmins, Ontario.
Can you describe your professional and/or academic background?
I worked in a few different careers before coming to Ornge. Everywhere from business to hospitality, to
firefighting – which I still do. On the aviation side, I started with standing agreement carrier transports, so I have been familiar with Ornge for a while.
What is something that you learned from your previous careers that you brought with you?
Everyone deserves a measure of respect and compassion. The interpersonal skills transferred over, like managing people and functioning as a team. Of course, some hard skills like defensive driving or physical fitness.
What do you do in a typical day in your role?
The bulk of my work is transporting patients to and from the airport to Timmins District Hospital. Occasionally we go to long term care centres and bringing patients to the hospital to help the local EMS service out. Sometimes we drive a team and their patient to Sudbury, it all depends on the aircraft situation for the day.
What made you want to join Ornge?
As I mentioned, I worked with standing agreement carriers before Ornge, and I got to know more about the organization through that work. But I’ve always liked the culture at Ornge and the team aspect of it. Timmins is home for me and Ornge has a base here, so it was a lot easier than commuting to Sudbury every day.
How important is Ornge to Northern Ontario communities?
Absolutely important. It’s the best way to get patients down for definitive care because of the distances, it’s not always feasible for patients to travel that far. We provide a very important service.
Congratulations on your two years here at Ornge. What is something you look forward to as your career progresses?
I just look forward to continuing my day-to-day. I consider this job a privilege, and the fact that I get paid is just a bonus. I get to meet some really beautiful people every day.
Why is kindness important in the work that you do?
We’re all people, aren’t we? Every patient has something to teach us, they all have a story, they all have wants and needs, likes, and dislikes. It’s important to care for them.
What are some of the core values that are ideal for patient care?
Cooperation. There’s not one of us that is more important than another, we all have to work together in order to make this process work.
Can you describe the collaboration (if any) with external stakeholders in your position?
I’ve always been a big proponent of fostering and maintaining positive relationships with stakeholder partners to make sure the transition of a patient is seamless. Ultimately, we all have to work together. It reflects well on us as an organization to be able to collaborate effectively and extend the culture that we have here at Ornge to everyone else.
If you could give a piece of advice to your past self, what would it be?
I wish I would have started this career earlier. You have to go through what you’ve gone through to get to where you are in life, but I would tell myself to get in the industry and try it out earlier.
How do you prioritize your wellbeing and health while you work both as a paramedic and firefighter?
My family keeps me grounded. My wife makes sure I don’t take myself too seriously. I’ve surrounded myself with like-minded individuals, and outside of work and family I’ve found someone that I can unload some of the more difficult things on as well. Exercise has become increasingly important; I’m getting older now so I can’t stop moving around or else I’ll lose the ability to do what I do. At Ornge our health benefits are fantastic, our employee and family plan has also been a great help. I surround myself and take advantage of so many resources that keep me moving and progressing both mentally and physically.
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At Ornge, our staff work every day around the clock to ensure the patients of Ontario receive the best care available. Learn more about the people behind #teamornge.