By EMS1 Staff
CALGARY, Alberta — An injured paramedic is on a mission to paint 100 portraits of first responders in 100 days to raise awareness of job fatigue.
Calgary Herald reported that paramedic Naomi Fox, who is currently recovering from hip surgery from a work-related injury, wants to raise awareness about the physical and mental fatigue paramedics face on the job.
“In order to keep paramedics in people’s minds, I decided to flood social media with faces of paramedics. I’m hoping to start a conversation,” Fox said. “We show up to help people on the worst day of their lives and it takes a special type of person to show up in another’s time of need.”
Fox said by painting the 5x7 portraits of paramedics who’ve submitted their photos for her to use, she hopes to give people a better understanding of the heavy burden first responders carry.
Fox said the portraits take five to six hours to finish, and time-lapsed videos will be released on her website.
“Right now what people don’t think about is you’ve (got) a paramedic who’s exhausted, who’s driving through traffic with lights and sirens, and they’re giving potentially lethal medication,” Fox said. “I don’t know how long it will take to change, but something needs to change.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba8MOo8jBqn/?taken-by=naomifoxart https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba9MPqKDYLQ/