Job demanding, but exciting: award-winning paramedic

A City of Greater Sudbury paramedic who also teaches part-time in Collège Boréal's paramedic program has been awarded the Léonce-Seguin Memorial Award.

Luc Perreault received the award as part of the National Emergency Medical Services Week, which takes place from May 16-22.

The Léonce-Seguin Memorial Award has been presented annually since 2006 to honour the memory of Léonce Seguin, a Greater Sudbury paramedic who succumbed to cancer at the age of 34. Before his illness, Seguin dreamed of returning to school in the hope of becoming a doctor.

The award is presented to an emergency medical services provider who has demonstrated a commitment to furthering his knowledge and skills through continued education and progressively responsible positions in the field of frontline emergency care.

“I am very honoured to receive an award that underlines excellence in the field of paramedic and emergency care,” Perreault said, in a press release from the college.

“Although it is demanding, our job is exciting and I’m very pleased to share my knowledge with my students enrolled in the paramedic program at Collège Boréal.”

Perreault began his career as a paramedic with the Sudbury and District Ambulance Service, following his graduation from the paramedic program at Collège Boréal in 1997.

He has been employed by the City of Greater Sudbury since December 2000, when the municipality assumed responsibility for land ambulance service from the province.
Three years after joining the municipality, Perreault completed the Advanced Care Paramedic program, which qualifies him to perform advanced medical procedures that can save lives and alleviate suffering during the crucial moments of pre-hospital emergency care.

“Paramedics like Luc Perreault are real-life heroes in our community, responding to medical emergencies at every hour, in all kinds of weather and sometimes under unfavourable conditions,” Mayor Marianne Matichuk said in a city press release. “We appreciate all the work you do for the good of others.”

This is the third time a Boréal professor has won the award.

In 2010, René Lapierre, a professor and co-ordinator of the college's paramedic program, also received the award. Luc Simard, also a professor in the paramedic program, received the award in 2008.