A Change of Guard

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Tuesday 1 November 2011

[Canada's] Interlake paramedic off to Cambodia


Interlake paramedic Mike Todd will head to Cambodia next year on a disaster relief mission. Photo Courtesy of the Interlake Regional Health Authority.

Interlake Spectator

STONEWALL - Interlake paramedic Mike Todd has been accepted to participate as the only Western Canadian team member on a disaster relief mission to Cambodia with the nonprofit international agency GlobalMedic.

Todd, 32, has been a paramedic for six years. He is currently based in Stonewall's emergency medical station and has been a medic with the Canadian Armed Forces medical reserves for 11 years. He has always wanted to participate in an overseas mission and looks forward to the trip that will see him depart in March 2012 for two weeks.

"I decided that I wanted to use my skills and training to help others and hopefully make a change in the world," Todd said.

GlobalMedic's Rapid Response Team (RRT) will be deploying to Cambodia to run a capacity-building mission in different villages throughout the country. The team will teach basic life-saving skills, deliver household water purification units and build the capacity of local Cambodians to deal with disasters when they strike.

Team participants must cover the costs of the mission. For Todd, this equates to approximately $3,000 for medical supplies and equipment and $3,000 for personal transportation and accommodation costs.

The retired military reservist had wanted to serve in Afghanistan, but never made it there. The trip to Cambodia will fulfill his dream of going overeas to help the less fortunate.

"This is my way of making a difference," he says.

Cambodia is a country still suffering the effects of dictatorship and civil war. The countryside is littered with unexploded devices that kill and maim thousands of people – mostly children - every year. Medical infrastructure is underdeveloped, half of the rural population does not have access to clean drinking water and risk of contracting an infectious disease including typhoid, hepatitis and malaria is very high.

To date, Todd has received support from the Paramedic Association of Manitoba and Canadian First Aid Training but he still has yet to meet his fundraising goals.

He has an online donation page at www.canadahelps.org. Click on "Giving Pages" and then search with "Mike Todd" or cheques made payable to DMGF.org can be mailed to Global Medic at 20 Claireport Cres., Unit 9, Etobicoke, Ontario, M9W 6P6. To contribute to Todd's personal transportation and accommodation costs, cheques can be mailed to Mike Todd, PO Box 4533, Stonewall, MB R0C 2Z0. Charitable receipts will only be issued for donations to Global Medic.

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