'Appreciation and gratitude': Toronto couple thank Calgary fire crew for treating and transporting daughter to hospital
'Appreciation and gratitude': Toronto couple thank Calgary fire crew for treating and transporting daughter to hospital
A Toronto couple expressed appreciation and gratitude for the fire fighters who treated and transported their three-year-old daughter to Children's hospital over the weekend.
The child suffered a serious fall and the fire department said it had no choice but to transport the child itself, because there was no ambulance available to help.
"Two days before that we were in Jasper," said Daniel Langdon, the father of Tara. "We were planning to go to Drumheller after Calgary or somewhere along the way. It could have happened anywhere in Alberta. Thank God it happened in Westmount and we were able to get to Alberta Children's Hospital."
Visiting from Toronto, little Tara and her parents were staying with friends in northwest Calgary when the young girl fell, hit her head, then began to seizure.
Calgary Fire fighters arrived first, providing medical care.
They said 911 couldn't provide an ETA on an ambulance.
They called an on-duty doctor to get emergency advice, and were told to get the girl to hospital right away.
She was loaded into the fire truck which isn't equipped for patients.
Paramedics showed up a minute after the fire crew left, 20 minutes after the first 911 call.
The couple said their hearts sank upon learning paramedics weren’t on their way, but are grateful fire crews were ready to do whatever was necessary to help their daughter.
"We're so glad that they did," Langdon said. "We got Alberta Children's Hospital (and) they had a team ready for us, and her oxygen had been really low so it was very critical that she got there as soon as possible, so we were very thankful that she got the care she needed."
The little girl is doing much better. Tuesday, she was smiling with her new friends at the fire hall.
Tonight they are staying with family in Edmonton to give Tara more time to recover.
Yesterday, Calgary Fire chief Steve Dongworth called out Alberta Health Services, calling its EMS response system broken, and that this latest example is proof of that.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump says he took the Fifth in New York civil investigation
Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination as he testified under oath Wednesday in the New York attorney general's long-running civil investigation into his business dealings, the former president said in a statement.

RCMP apologize: Questions remain more than 50 years after Yukon woman's death
Family members are still searching for answers after the RCMP apologized for not properly investigating an Indigenous woman's death more than five decades ago.
BREAKING | Two children at centre of Sask. Amber Alert found safe in South Dakota, suspect arrested
The Meade County Sheriff’s Office in South Dakota said it has arrested the man wanted in connection with an Amber Alert in Saskatchewan.
Donald Trump 'took the Fifth.' What does it actually mean?
Former U.S. President Donald Trump showed up Wednesday for questioning under oath in New York's civil investigation into his business practices. But he quickly made clear he wouldn't be answering.
Exposure to synthetic 'forever chemical' linked to liver cancer, study finds
Exposure to synthetic ‘forever chemicals’ often polluting the environment has been linked to the most common type of liver cancer, according to a recent study.
Doctors call for action as growing number of Canadians dying from common food preservative
Doctors are among those calling for tighter regulation of sodium nitrite as a growing number of Canadians are dying after intentionally ingesting unsafe quantities of the common food preservative in its pure form.
Is Canada's 'historic' housing correction affecting your plans to buy or sell? CTVNews.ca wants to hear from you
Following a series of interest rate hikes, Canada's housing market is now facing a 'historic' correction. CTVNews.ca wants to hear from Canadians looking to buy or sell homes in a changing market landscape.
Domino's tried to sell pizza to Italians. It failed
Seven years after its debut in Italy, the American pizza giant Dominos has formally shut its stores after it failed to win over locals who preferred homegrown options, according to a report by Milano Today.
Beaned Little League batter rises to console upset pitcher
A Little League batter rose from a beaning to console the upset pitcher in a dramatic scene at a Little League regional tournament game Tuesday in Waco, Texas.