Mayor Darrell Mussatto

Darrell Mussatto is the mayor of the City of
North Vancouver, who is on leave from the
B.C. Ambulance Service where he worked
as a full-time paramedic since 1987 He has
a Bacheior of Arts Degree and a profes-
sional teaching certificate as well as a Cer-
tificate in Health and Fitness Studies from
Simon Fraser University

“When | was twenty-three and at universitv and wanted
to get into the helping professions, | went to Whatcom College
in Washington state for a three-months night course and be-
came an EMT [emergency medical technician] to try to get in
the B.C. Ambulance Service. Back then the only way you could
take a course with the Paramedic Acadeiny on West Fourth was
to be hired on first. You had to go to a part-time station and there
weren't many in the Lower Mainland. | was hired in Whistler as a
part-tinie paramedic with industrial tirst aid, my cardiopulmonary
resuscitation instructor's course, the basic requirements and my
EMT from Whatcom, which wasn't a very thorough course. Once
| got in, they paid for my EMA | (emergency medical assistant)
training course from the Justice Institute in 1983. At that point,
they had instructors who came to your community to teach the
course for about six weeks. Tim Jones and Ron Straight were
the instructors at the Academy and that was so rewarding be-
cause they became my mentors and were so knowledgeable and
inspiring—wow! It was exciting, hands-on.

“| was doing ambulance part-time when Whistler was qui-
et. | weit back to teacher training at SFU and became a teacher.
In 1987, | got a full-tirne job offer with the B.C. Ambulance Ser-
vice as holiday relief, covering stations anywhere in the Lower
Mainland. Then you took an EMA II course for six weeks and
that's where my real foundation came. Kelly Murphy, now with
Interior Health, was one of my instructors, who was also very
keen and bright and a Program Coordinator then. | became a
substitute teacher from 1987 to ‘92 while doing full-time ambu-
lance. | ran for city council and took my name off the substitute
teacher's list.

“Back then, as a full-time paramedic, you then had to go
back ard re-certifv all your skills every five vears. So | did that
two-week course and got tested. That happened until the early
‘90s, but since then thev said they had to find a better way of
training people without so much stress. And that’s when they
went to the continuing medical education model online and In-
stitute classes.

“The Paramedic Academy's teaching styles and methods
are much more current than vears ago. Today they're teaching
you as an adult learner, as a human being, and they're going to
make it exciting and easier to learn. Hats off to the JI. as a training
facility, they've come a long way.

“Ir, 2005, after four terms in council, | ran for the mayor's
spot and had to give up the full-time ambulance service. Fortu-
nately, in our contract there's a clause that says if you are elected
to public office, you can get full-time leave without pay, You have
to work several shifts a year to make twenty patient contacts,
start a handful of IVs in the hospital emergency ward, and then
take significant continuing medical courses. Last year | did my
final ambulance shift December 29."

In 1995, he’d received the Ambulance Service's Executive
Director's commendation. “Bill Hudson and | did a call to a jump-
er on the Second Narrows bridge There's a person standing on
the other side in the middle span over the water who says he's
going to jump. He didn’t want to talk to the fire people or the
police; he just wanted to talk to the ambulance people. Bill and |
managed to get closer and closer and try to convince him to not
jump. We realized he was getting weaker and had to run and grab
the guv. | said, ‘Bill, on three we've got to run.’ We were about five
yards away when his head was down and we grabbed his arms
and he tried to jump but his feet were dangling. We didn't have
enough strength to pull him back over At that point we're velling
to the fire and police guys to give us a hand and were able to pull
him up It's not a hero award; every ambulance paramedic would
du that. A lot of them do the same thing and above and beyond
all the time.”

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