North Zone paramedic relishes her rural practice

Enjoys opportunities to put skills to good use in job and community

Story & photo by Diana Rinne

VALLEYVIEW — Rural practice is enjoyable for many reasons. For AHS Advanced Care Paramedic Christina Fobes, the rural community of Valleyview brings a wide range of opportunities to use her skills both in her job and in her community.

Working in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for the past 15 years, Fobes moved to the North Zone in 2005 from Calgary to work industrial EMS before starting with AHS EMS in 2007.

During her time in various communities in North and Central Zones, she served as acting qualified manager for EMS for a couple of years as well as her area’s public access defibrillation (PAD) coordinator for a year. Fobes has also provided care on medivac planes for Advanced Paramedic Ltd., which contracts to Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Currently, she works in both outpatients and acute care at the Valleyview Healthcare Centre and also holds a position as an Advanced Care Paramedic at the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital emergency department.

Originally from the Calgary area, Fobes says one of the biggest draws of rural practice is the easy access to outdoor living and activities. “It’s untapped, you can go quadding, you can go hiking and it’s all accessible like five minutes from your house.”

In the community, she’s heavily involved as a volunteer with local search and rescue organizations. “I was the president of Technical Search and Rescue (TSAR) for two years and then I moved out to Greenview Search and Rescue last year because they needed some help,” adding that her husband also volunteers with Search and Rescue.

“Technical Search and Rescue is the only Advanced Life Support (ALS) capable search and rescue team in all of western Canada, independent of the Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR Techs),” she says. Because she works at an ALS level, Fobes has been able to put her skills to use in her volunteer work with Search and Rescue.

“Last year we had the SAR Techs out here, so we did scenarios. For two days, I ran intense action scenarios out in the bush with them.” One of the scenarios Fobes developed is published on the Canadian SAR Tech website.

More recently, Fobes stepped up to help Search and Rescue in the evacuation of Valleyview this past May due to nearby wildfires. She and her family also evacuated their home in Sandy Bay just outside of Valleyview near Sturgeon Lake. “We lost 25 homes in our subdivision,” but their home was spared by the flames.

As a paramedic who was on standby during the Fort McMurray fires and who worked in EMS during the Slave Lake fires, Fobes says she couldn’t “just sit” while her community was in crisis.

“My husband was fighting fires and I couldn’t sit at home. I just went and helped evacuate the town and then came up to the hospital to see if they needed any help.”

Her strong sense of community is deeply rooted in the cultural connections Fobes has forged over the years in Valleyview.

“Cultural immersion is just a natural thing up here and I love it,” says Fobes, who’s Métis. “Here the people you see at the grocery store are the same people you see at the Métis functions, the same people you see at the hospital, and the same people you play hockey with all weekend.”

Fobes appreciates being able to integrate her work and volunteerism into her family and community life.

“I love rural because you’re not just a paramedic, you don’t just function in your role. For instance, in search and rescue, my son comes with me, my daughter comes with me, and they volunteer with us at Métis events. Your family comes with you because it’s such a community.”

Tracy Brown, Site Manager of Valleyview Healthcare Centre, also serves as president of Métis Local 1929, and shares how community and cultural connections play into the work Fobes does at the hospital.

“She does know the people — and they’re definitely more comfortable when they come into emergency and she is there. It does make a difference.”