Health Care Health Hero & Provincial Health Care Hero: Provincial Health Services
Glenn Jay Braithwaite
District Supervisor, Emergency Coordinator, BC Emergency Health Services
Glenn Jay Braithwaite is a paramedic. That’s his vocation. He’s also a District Supervisor at BC Ambulance Service. That’s his official job title. But it’s no exaggeration to say that a more fitting title would be hero. How else would you describe someone who routinely goes above and beyond to save lives and has received so many professional accolades that it would be difficult to list them all?
In 2016, Glenn spearheaded the emergency response for a girl who, as the result of an ATV accident had become impaled on a tree. It was a difficult search and rescue requiring an air lift and complicated extraction to keep the girl alive. If it had not been for Glenn’s leadership and strong clinical understanding of the patient’s needs, she would not have survived.
On another occasion, Glenn was working an extra shift as a Duty Supervisor in Vancouver when a cluster of 911 calls were received. Glenn quickly realized that the calls were in response to overdoses related to one cocaine purchase. Eleven lives were saved that day thanks, in part, to Glenn’s clinical and leadership abilities.
For his outstanding commitment to patients, colleagues and the broader community, and truly heroic actions, Glenn Braithwaite is this year’s Health Care Hero for Provincial Health Services Authority.