Sask. man gives thanks for life-saving flight
Reflecting on his own experience as a patient in need of a quick transport to hospital, Richard Renaud is expressing thanks to crews of the province's air ambulance service, which is celebrating its 70th year of operation.
It happened in 2010 in Tisdale, Sask., where he was living and working at the time.
Renaud said he was experiencing pain one day and he initially attributed it to an ongoing back ailment but, at the end of the day, it only got worse.
"I started sweating profusely," he remembered. Finally, he spoke to his brother who took him to the hospital in Tisdale where he was quickly diagnosed as suffering from a heart attack.
"It wasn't my back. And [the doctor] called the air ambulance right away," he said.
He remembers that within an hour he was in transport.
"[They] flew me directly to Saskatoon," Renaud said. While he doesn't recall too many specifics of the flight, he said he does remember how the crew was very attentive.
"I really remember their attitude, their professionalism [and] their confidence," he said.
In Saskatoon, Renaud went directly into surgery where doctors repaired a blocked artery using a procedure involving a stent.
At a later checkup, Renaud learned that the prompt diagnosis and medical attention prevented significant long-term damage to his heart.
"It was the quick response of the people," Renaud said. "I've got to give … thanks for what they did for me."
The air ambulance service provides transportation between locations across the province as well as to and from other provinces for care not available in Saskatchewan.
