Giuseppe Federico, Somerset Ward’s rapid-response parademic, patrols the streets in his Paramedic Response Unit sedan.
“Do you want me to show you the equipment?” Giuseppe Federico asks, wide-eyed and eager.
He dissects the contents of his paramedic backpack, explaining the tools in order of his most-used on emergency calls: blood-pressure cuffs, vomit bags, a glucometer, medicines, masks and mouth tubes. He doesn’t need time to think before explaining what any of these objects do.
Federico is Somerset Ward’s rapid-response paramedic for the Ottawa Paramedic Service. For 10 hours a day he patrols Centretown’s streets in his Paramedic Response Unit (PRU) sedan, seeking out the sick and injured.
“I’m a face in the ward,” he explains about his role. “I drive around and make my presence felt. I walk into a different shop every day and I get to know more faces.”
If there is a life-threatening medical emergency in the area, he is most likely to be first on the scene. Federico’s main task is to stabilize a patient before the ambulance arrives. He has the same pieces of equipment, just less of each, and he works alone.
His assessment and vital signs are done with treatment already started by the time the ambulance arrives. The patient can then leave for the hospital, he says.
Dressed in full uniform – thick navy slacks and shirt, black leather boots and a stethoscope draping around his neck – Federico exudes professionalism and calm. His vehicle is his office and he snakes through the streets with assured confidence, eyes and ears on the ground.
Born and raised in Ottawa, he has been a paramedic for seven years.
“I have never been one to sit on the sidelines,” he says about his active role in the community. “I do everything I do because I like to get involved instead of complaining about something. I would rather get my hands dirty and illicit positive change.”
This constructive attitude has garnered respect from his fellow paramedics.
Kerry Morris was Federico’s partner five years ago. After sharing the front seat of an ambulance cabin for about one and a half years, he moved to the PRU, she to supervisory. His friendly nature promotes the profession well and he is a great asset to the service, she says.
“If you’re in trouble, he is a good guy to have show up,” she says. “I keep bugging him now and again that if he ever feels like quitting the PRU, he can come back and be my partner. I would work with him again in a second.”
There are four priority levels for paramedic calls. As a rapid-response paramedic, Federico deals only with the highest level – life threatening. The PRU recently moved from a pilot project to a permanent operation across multiple wards in Ottawa. Just like the local milkman or beat cop, Federico is dedicated solely to serving his Somerset Ward community.
With an average of eight calls per day, one shift could include multiple crises: seizures, chest pains and shortness of breath, cardiac arrest, car crashes, and child delivery.
“I’ve never had a morning where I wake up and say ‘I just can’t do this’, and I wouldn’t be here if I did,” he says. “If you couldn’t do the job, you wouldn’t last very long.”
He loves his job, and likes to be busy – even if a quiet day means a good day for the citizens, he jokes. But he takes his job seriously. He has seen a lot of trauma over his time as a paramedic.
“I see people at their worst, and that’s when I’m at my best,” he says. “A lot of people ask what the worst thing I’ve seen is, and I always give them the same answer – I don’t think I want to tell you that and I don’t think you want to hear it.”
The impact of his work extends through people like a chain reaction. For each patient he helps, he affects not only the lives of the sick or injured, but the lives of their friends, family and the bystanders, Federico says.
A usual day for Federico begins at ten o’clock, with a meeting at the paramedic headquarters in Ottawa’s east end. By a quarter after, he is on the road.
Federico has been dedicated to Somerset Ward for the last year and a half. He likes the variety in Centretown, with Parliament Hill, City Hall and the office buildings, he says.
His PRU vehicle is small enough to get through heavy traffic. It is equipped with a laptop, the latest software and a GPS to allow him to locate and reach his patients as fast as possible. There are many people to tend to in Centretown, and little downtime between calls. When some does come, Federico’s mind is still usually on the job – and how he can make it better.
He realized over time that his one-shoulder paramedic bag was “not very ergonomic”. So he decided to design a new one. For three years, Federico has worked on building a new backpack. Its structure is based on ease of access to the tools paramedics’ use most.
His bag was well received by the OPS – so they named it after him. His project will debut in all rapid-response units this month.
Working to make Federico's and his co-workers lives easier makes sense, he says. And his extra work has not gone unnoticed by the Service or his superiors.
“He wants to move the PRU program further and I need that sort of movement behind me so that I can expand the unit,” Superintendent of Operations for the OPS Garth Tourangeau says about Federico’s passionate nature.
He is happy to visit headquarters on his days off, and if a co-worker asks for his help or opinion, Federico will stick around to assist, he says.
“I sometimes have to tell him to go home,” Tourangeau laughs.
Federico underwent two years of extensive training at Algonquin College to become a Primary Care Paramedic. Now there is nothing he doesn’t know about his job, he grins. His best friend Fernando Matias recalls Federico’s dedication to learning all he could about paramedicine in the early days.
“It was a very hectic, very busy time honestly,” Matias says. “I didn’t see much of him over the two years.”
Matias doesn’t hesitate when he says he would trust Federico to save his life. Or anyone else’s, for that matter.
“His car is equipped and he is ready to go,” he says. “If we’re driving around and there is ever an accident he will definitely be the one to stop and help out.”
Federico spends his days circling Centretown to save the lives of his locals. He has a passion for being a paramedic, and is always nearby – at your service with a stethoscope and supplies.
Tourangeau reveals Federico’s dedication to his citizens.
“This guy is yours,” he says. “And he will always be there.”