I woke up early the morning they told the world who won the bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Holding my breath, I cheered out loud when the IOC president announced “Vancouver” to the world. Four years is a long time to be that excited.
We are starting to see movement in BCAS with regard to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Management is finally hiring the Venue Commanders – a posting that has been unfilled since November of 2007. A good friend of mine found out today he will be the Commander of the Curling Venue during the Paralympic Games. We are proud of him.
The upstaffing on the street and in the tower will be dizzying. Dedicated ambulances and crews at each of the 9 venues (and the 4 Paralympic Games venues a few weeks later) will tap our staffing reserves to say the least.
My goal is to be in a higher level supervisor role before then – possibly still in the dispatch centre, but not necessarily. I will, however, push to be involved in the games in some capacity. Communications would be the most obvious choice, but I’m still licensed to practice on patients, so you never know.
Looking into my crystal ball, I see the communications centre being hidden off in a corner behind a broom closet though. The lack of visibility of the dispatch staff leaves much to be desired. Too easily sabotaged by nefarious types. It’s not the invisibility I dislike, it’s that I won’t get to see much of the games and atmosphere while hidden away in the dark reaches of the basement.
Things change and evolve and I’m a bit of a pesimist these days. Back to work soon. We’ll see what tide brings.
