Kevin Palmer, advanced care paramedic

While emergency medical services (EMS) shifts sometimes involve downtime, Kevin Palmer, advanced care paramedic, fills this time researching, learning, teaching and seeking to improve Banff Mineral Springs Hospital’s EMS. He dedicates energy to his role as an educator, and frequently branches out into continuous improvement projects. Using his spare time, Kevin developed a plan for ongoing learning which includes training days for staff that provide a balance of required learning, equipment and skills review, areas of interest and emerging treatments.

Kevin is constantly in learning mode. He often approaches his colleagues to share information about the latest research he has been reading about. His thirst for knowledge is infectious, and he has motivated many of his teammates to pursue their own professional development in wilderness medicine, patient simulation and critical care paramedicine.

Within provincial EMS operations, Banff’s EMS is viewed as a leader in patient care. Kevin has been an integral part of the service's vision of being on the leading edge of prehospital medicine.

Kevin is thrifty and inventive. He has used his talents to benefit the hospital's patient simulation lab. He made his own skin for suturing and realistic patient models for cricothyrotomy, contaminated airways, wound packing and other procedures. These models have led to unique experiences for those who have had the opportunity to work in the lab.