Impactful Approaches to Leadership on the Front Lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lived Experiences of Canadian Paramedics

Lindsey Boechler; Cheryl Cameron; J Chris Smith; Polly Ford-Jones; Patrick Suthers

doi:10.12927/hcq.2021.26620

Impactful Approaches to Leadership on the Front Lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lived Experiences of Canadian Paramedics

Healthc Q. 2021 Oct;24(3):42-47. doi: 10.12927/hcq.2021.26620.

Authors

Lindsey Boechler¹, Cheryl Cameron², J Chris Smith³, Polly Ford-Jones⁴, Patrick Suthers⁵

Affiliations

¹ A research chair with the Centre of Health Research, Improvement and Scholarship, Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Moose Jaw, SK. She is an advanced care paramedic and a qualitative researcher focusing on the experiences of front-line personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare accessibility for marginalized populations and virtual health supports. Lindsey can be reached by e-mail at lindsey.boechler@saskpolytech.ca.
² An advanced care paramedic and educator from Edmonton, AB. She is currently the director of operations with Canadian Virtual Hospice in Winnipeg, MB, and a fellow with the McNally Project for Paramedicine Research.
³ A full-time advanced care paramedic with Peterborough Paramedics as well as a graduate student at Trent University in Oshawa, ON, where his research focuses on the application of data science to paramedic records. He is currently exploring the modelling and monitoring of the opioid crisis using paramedic data.
⁴ A professor in Allied Health at the Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning in Toronto, ON. She is a practising primary care paramedic and a qualitative researcher focusing on issues of health equity, the social determinants of health and prehospital mental health and psychosocial care.
⁵ A primary care paramedic with the County of Simcoe, ON. He is a member of the McNally Project for Paramedic Research and a third-year undergraduate student studying health sciences at Queen's University in Kingston, ON.

PMID: 34792447
DOI: 10.12927/hcq.2021.26620

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak offered a unique opportunity to capture the experiences of front-line practitioners during substantial and rapid changes to their daily work, including workplace policy, protocols, environment and culture, as well as changes to their overall professional role in the healthcare system. Our team of paramedic researchers collected data throughout the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, exploring the lived experiences from a paramedic viewpoint. This article will discuss impactful approaches to leadership in paramedicine - differentiating between successful and failed strategies to leading and supporting teams amid rapid change on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.

MeSH terms

Allied Health Personnel
COVID-19*
Canada
Humans
Leadership
Pandemics* / prevention & control
SARS-CoV-2