Introducing Evan Hanna, our dedicated Critical Care Paramedic and Clinical Practice Lead from Hamilton. We had an insightful conversation with him about his journey into paramedicine, the valuable education he gained at Ornge, and the strong culture of patient care that defines our organization.

Can you begin by introducing yourself, how long you’ve been at Ornge, and your current role at Ornge?

My name is Evan Hanna, I am a Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) and Clinical Practice Lead (CPL) at Ornge’s Hamilton Base. I started in December of 2017, so I’ve been here for just over seven years.

When did you decide you wanted to be a paramedic? What led you to that choice?

When I was in high school, I was interested in sciences, and healthcare in general and my brother-in-law, Rob, was a paramedic over in Niagara. I wanted to go into healthcare in some form, but the idea of working full-time in a fluorescent-lit hospital with not many windows didn't appeal to me. So, I looked at what he was doing and said, hey, that looks like that might be a good fit.

Why did you choose to join Ornge?

For largely the same reasons! Since my brother-in-law was a paramedic, from a very young age I knew that Ornge existed, even before I applied to school. That was always in the background as a possible route for when I eventually had enough experience and training. It took five years, but it was always the plan to come here eventually.

What do you do on a typical day in your role as a CPL?

Part of what appealed to me about the CPL role is the variety. Every day can look completely different. On Monday I might be at the base facilitating some Continuing Professional Development (CPD), doing some training with the medics, or just catching up on debriefing some calls. On Tuesday I might be over at headquarters teaching a base lab for the CCP program, Wednesday could be certification events, and on Thursday I could pick up a clinical shift. There is a huge variety of ways to contribute to the organization.

Can you describe the differences between the education you received at Ornge vs other institutions?

I’ve been very lucky to have amazing educational experiences at every institution that I’ve gone to. The difference at Ornge is that it’s very hands-on. There isn’t a lot of sitting and listening to lectures. Of course, you’re going to have some lectures, but right after it's over you’re up on your feet and getting your hands-on practical experience immediately. We do a good job of making things simulation heavy. Throughout the Critical Care Program, for instance, medics on average will participate in over 300 hours of clinical simulation.

What are some of your strategies for keeping staff motivated to learn?

As adult learners, we must base education on what the medics both want and need. These are professionals working at a very high level. We try and do our best to reach out to the medics and ask what they need from us from a CPD standpoint. Some things are mandatory to maintain certifications, but we do our best to provide training on things that people want to learn about in a way that is practical, relatable, and useful for their positions.

Can you speak a little bit about the medical research you do at Ornge?

I’ve helped with a few small studies, mostly related to analgesia in trauma patients. I’m completing my Master of Paramedicine in Critical Care right now at Charles Sturt University so I’m getting into thesis time for that. We’re going to be looking at Ornge trauma patients and two specific things: how many trauma patients that we provide blood transfusions to go on to receive operative intervention or massive transfusion, and the rates of acute traumatic coagulopathy and hypofibrinogenemia in those patients. Studying this is hopefully going to answer some questions like are we giving blood to the right patients? Are we using the right transfusion thresholds? Are we carrying the right blood products to potentially address issues with coagulopathy?

What education opportunities does Ornge offer and why is it unique?

There are a lot of different education opportunities. In terms of initial education, we have everything from the Critical Care Paramedic program, the Flight RN program, PCP training for our PCLA program, and both the fellowship and area of focused competency for our physicians. Internally, we are well supported financially with a pool of funding accessible to paramedics to do courses on their own or go to conferences. I’ve used funding to complete courses in point-of-care ultrasound, as well as to offset tuition costs for my master’s degree.

The more we can learn, the better care we can deliver. During COVID-19, we had the opportunity to undergo the Sanyas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training program which served us very well and helped us to better care for the communities we serve and give us a better perspective on cultures which, growing up in southern Ontario, many of us knew little about.

Can you explain why timeliness is important in all our transports and not just trauma/urgent transports?

Despite the ones that make the news, many of our transports are not high acuity. Some are for appointments, going for imaging to guide cancer treatment, and going for a workup for a possible organ transplant. I think if we were able to just write off those and say we only do the most acute transports, shortly down the line many of those lower acuity transports are going to develop into high acuity transports. Our mission is to bring Health Equity to the people of Ontario, and in doing that, timeliness is going to look different for each transport – minutes versus hours or even days. But all transports need to be addressed promptly.

Can you speak on the organizational culture here at Ornge and how it relates to patient care?

Our biggest organizational strength by far, is our people. We are very lucky as a provincial organization to be able to recruit from across Ontario, Canada, and even internationally. Everyone brings unique experiences and education to the table, and we leverage those to find unique solutions to the problems we face every day. We have amazing people working all over the organization, and once you get to work with the same staff for a while, you develop a camaraderie, and it becomes obvious that everyone is here for the same reason – to provide the best care possible to our patients. From the medics, the pilots, the engineers, the administrative staff, OCC, the physician group or management, everyone is here for the same reason and everyone works together extremely well to provide patients the care they need.

• Inside Ornge