pbi said:
Like this old IH Travelall: this (in a blue and white scheme) was very common in a lot of places outside T.O.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNxnJRUBFwQ&feature=player_detailpage
I remember seeing them running 183's ( emergency transfers ) from Anyhospital, Ontario into downtown hospitals such as Sick Kids etc.
The only colour I recall was the official OHSC blue and white.
Also, the OHSC yard was on Horner Ave. in south Etobicoke ( probably still is? ), so we got to see a lot of their smashed up wrecks getting ready for the scrap yard.
It was a sad sight, because the limousine style ambulances ( Superior, Miller-Meteor, Cotner-Bevington ) were beautiful. Too many of us, they were works of art.
( I don't mean the truck types like the International Travel-alls, Ford Econolines and GMC Suburbans etc. I doubt if anyone missed them. I am referring to the Cadillac / Oldsmobiles etc. )
Remember too that back then those types of light trucks and vans were not yet popular as personal vehicles. They were built for tradesmen etc. so niceties like padded dashboards, air-conditioning and power steering etc. were not included.
pbi said:
Fleuty's and Lee's were the two I remember. Skinner's never had an ambulance, as far as I can recall (maybe you saw their pickup wagon?). Long after Mississauga was created, the only two ambulances running were Fleuty's and Lee's.
Skinner and Middlebrook definitely had a licensed ambulance. I remember their Pontiac Bonneville at accident scenes on the QEW and at Queensway Hospital ER.
It was replaced by a regulation OHSC blue and white Ford.
Something to remember about the funeral homes "back in the day" was that many operated "combination cars" ( Hearse, ambulance and first-call, all-in-one. )
However, the Skinner and Middlebrook Bonneville ambulance was definitely an ambulance only, not a combination car.
pbi said:
Just west of where I lived, in Trafalgar (now Oakville) was Alexander's Ambulance, which was unique in that it was a stand-alone ambulance firm. They operated several Cadillacs and Superior Criterions, like this one:
http://www.northlandpcs.com/images/museum/Miller_Meteor_Criterion_Ambulance_930.jpg
Not sure if I specifically remember Alexander's Ambulance, but I saw lots of Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles etc. coming into the city from out of town.
Emergency operations in Toronto would have destroyed them.
Incidentally, when the Ontario Ambulance Act was passed in 1966
*, it was expressly forbidden to transport a dead body along side a viable patient in the same ambulance.
This did not serve the Funeral Homes well as a Home would make $ 25.00 to retrieve a deceased body but only $5.00 for transportation to a hospital of a viable person.
It was obvious to see who would have transport priority from accident scenes!
( We transported many D.O.A.s back then to the old morgue on Lombard St., but never with a living patient. At least, not intentionally.
)
T-EMS has a 1954 Packard for parades etc. Here it is parked outside the City Archives on Spadina Ave.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rfzappala/4650668086/
I got to drive it a few times. Something a bit creepy about it is that, in the patient compartment, it has two manequins. One dressed as the attendant, the other as a stretcher patient with wearing an oxygen mask. You get some looks from people!
* This was the year that "Accidental Death and Disability: the Neglected Disease of Modern Society" commonly known as "the White Paper" was published in the U.S. This is generally considered to be the beginning of paramedicine in North America.
pbi said:
I remember the controversy over bringing in the paramedic model versus the "ambulance attendant" model. If I recall correctly some doctors were strongly opposed to the idea that a non-doctor could be allowed to administer the protocols that are now common for paramedics and probably even EMTs.
I wonder how many people died in those days who would be alive today?
Cheers
Doctor McNally ( the provincial director ) was in favour of it, but Commisioner Pollard ( Metro ) was less than enthusiastic about paramedic training because of the cost.
Not so well known now, but Doctor McNally did encounter resistance from the medical profession.
"Sadly Dr. McNally failed to consider the opinions of his colleagues Province wide.
As the first Advanced Ambulance man arrived in his small town service and presented his papers announcing his new skills to the Hospital administrators, the home town Physicians refused to allow it.
As the 2nd. Class of advanced Ambulance men studied and performed, Dr. McNally began receiving pressure from the most powerful political lobbyists.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons would not have any part in this delivery of medical skills by non-physicians.
Dr. McNally fought with all his political connections; however as the 3rd. Class of advanced Ambulance men celebrated their graduation Dr. McNally agreed to stop the course and agreed that No advanced Ambulance man would be allowed to used his advanced skills in the province of Ontario.
Enabling legislation was never passed, and so none of the graduates were ever permitted to practice their skills. Seen as too expensive, the program was replaced in 1971 by the Ambulance and Emergency Care Program at Humber College, Toronto."
From "The History of Ontario EMS" by Brent Goodwin ACP
The attached photo is the type of ambulance I worked in my early days.
The photo was taken at the scene of a construction accident on July 8, 1975 at the base of the not yet completed CN Tower.
Interesting to note the Royal York Hotel ( directly over the open patient compartment door ) and compare it to the skyline of today!
Cheers.
