Rahul founded the David McAntony Gibson Foundation in 1998 to honour the memory of his best friend who tragically lost his life on February 7, 1998. In just 12 years, Singh’s tireless efforts have resulted in a globally recognized, innovative and efficient organization. He has also personally led over 30 GlobalMedic missions around the world and is the charity’s Executive Director.
Rahul has been a professional emergency worker since 1988. Currently he serves the citizens of Toronto as a frontline Paramedic. Combining a passion for humanitarian assistance from an emergency perspective, Singh created GlobalMedic’s unique operational mandate of providing disaster relief in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe with professional emergency workers.
Singh has received the Indo-Canadian Commerce’s 2006 Humanitarian of the Year Award and received multiple letters of commendation from the likes of former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Toronto Mayor, David Miller, and Federal Member of Parliament Jim Karygiannis.
In 2010, Singh was named as one of “Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World”, as well as one of “Canada’s Top 40 Under 40”.
As I listened to him talk about the disaster relief missions that he and his volunteers have been on, and additionally the capacity building missions that have truly made a difference in people’s lives, I thought this could be something that the Paramedics in Manitoba could embrace and become a very real part of. I started talking to others at the conference, and in no time, had 27 people giving me their contact information and asking how they could get involved. It became apparent that paramedics have a true interest in becoming part of something big.
Rahul has over 400 volunteers across Canada and abroad, but he was really hoping to expand his GlobalMedic operation in a more structured format, and he was hoping to start with a Chapter in Manitoba. This is an awesome opportunity for Paramedics in Manitoba.
This brings me to my email today. I am looking to compile a list of names of interested individuals who would be willing to move forward and put Manitoba on the map and do some great things. This is not going to be easy, there will be a lot of work to be done, but I believe that if we all pull together, we can make it happen. If we look at what one man (Rahul Singh) did with nothing more than a strong will and desire to make a difference, then I’m sure we can make Manitoba and him proud.
One of the things that impressed me most about GlobalMedic, was that they operate on the basis of a zero overhead principle. Every dollar the organization receives goes directly towards funding disaster relief missions and/or the purchase of equipment to support deployment efforts. This tells me that they are truly serious about putting all the resources to where they will have the most impact.
Once I compile a list of all interested individuals, ideally it would be nice to try to get everybody together and start to work on a game plan. I have been in contact with Rahul’s team in Toronto, and they have been very helpful in providing information on how to get started, but we would be the first affiliated Chapter and would be blazing the trail.
There will be many faucets to creating a Chapter, so we will need people with all kinds of expertise. Fundraising will be a big part of what will need to be done, but we can also have a lot of fun doing it. We can bring Paramedics together from across the Province and in the process heighten the public’s awareness of EMS through media events. We will also need people interested in becoming part of the Rapid Response Teams, Capacity Building Teams and many other areas I haven’t even thought of yet.
Rahul and the InterAct Committee have given permission to post his presentation so everybody can hear first- hand what GlobalMedic is all about. Please check out the video link at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLc7HKySb2Q .
Select these links to see a couple of documents that provide a brief overview.
About Global Medic and Global Medic Corporate Package
However, going to their website at www.globalmedic.ca will show all the past and present missions.
If you are interested in getting involved, please email me your contact information at
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Name:
Preferred Email:
Preferred Phone number:
Service/Region you are working in:
I look forward to welcoming everybody on this amazing journey.
Let’s Make It Happen!!!!
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Lori Bruce-Smith
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204-269-6276
P.S. Just in case you were wondering who I am,
I’ve worked in Winnipeg EMS for 26 years as a Paramedic, Training Officer, Public Education Coordinator and currently Clinical Education Coordinator, and I’m just someone who thinks we can make a difference.
