| Community Futures
Visions North
Northern Pride Animates La Ronge EMS
When Eric Bell took over La Ronge Ambulance
it had five employees, one of whom was a northerner. Now, Bell
notes with pride, La Ronge EMS has 23 people on staff, and 15
are of First Nations background. That's just one aspect of the
pride Bell exudes in talking about the business.
Before getting into business for himself Bell
spent 18 years as a Parks Canada warden, including two stints
at nearby Prince Albert National Park. However, he could see changes
coming in the organization and operation of the parks service,
"and I couldn't see myself in that picture."
The La Ronge ambulance service was one of the
business possibilities that Bell considered as he looked around
for a new line of work. As a park warden he'd had many experiences
responding to emergencies, so the ambulance service was "a
nice fit." Still, he spent about a year pre-planning and
arranging financing before buying the business in August 1994.
He also sank all of his superannuation into the purchase. "It
was a risk," Bell acknowledges. "My wife wondered
why I was leaving a safe, secure job."
"Community Futures Visions North helped
with operating dollars and money to upgrade equipment. They helped
with long-term planning and sometimes short-term fixes, until
I could get three or four years of records to take to the government
in Regina and say 'This is the value you're getting and this is
what you're paying.' Visions North has always stood behind me,
and I think that's because the Board of Directors has a clear
understanding of businesses that are important to the community,"
he observes.
I have a young primary care paramedic who wants
to become a nurse," Bell says. "I had an emergency
medical responder who became an emergency medical technician and
then decided that he had the skills and ability to become a teacher.
I'm happy to be a part of their success." It's an exciting
time to be in the EMS industry, according to Bell.
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