Recognition goes out to Emergency Health Services (EHS) employees.

Eighty-four EHS employees were honoured with long-service awards at the ceremony in Halifax on Tuesday.

Together the recipients totalled 2,130 years of supporting and providing emergency care that saves lives in Nova Scotia.

Here are the six length-of-service milestones that were recognized (with number of recipients):

– 45 years (one)
– 40 years (three)
– 35 years (eight)
– 30 years (11)
– 25 years (27)
– 20 years (34).

Paramedics took home most of the awards for keeping Nova Scotians safe.

The Department of Health and Wellness Communications says, “To qualify for an award, employees must have at least 20 years of service, be in good standing and be involved in or directly support the administration, preparedness and operation of the system. Most of the recipients are paramedics.”

William Muirhead, a paramedic from the New Glasgow area, was honoured for his 45 years of service.

Another paramedic, Mark Walker of Hammonds Plains, was awarded the Tom Dobson Award.

Tom Dobson developed multiple innovative programs and service delivery models to enhance care for patients and advance paramedicine professions in Nova Scotia during his 23-year EHS career.

The EHS communications centre received over 204,000 calls in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, with an average of around 560 calls per day.
Nova Scotia has 257 EHS vehicles and four aircrafts, including ambulances, patient transfer units, single paramedic response units, medical transport units, helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes.