Gwen Blatz of Steinbach was one of 22 paramedics recognized last week by the province for her many years of dedication to the public service.

Blatz was presented the Emergency Medical Service Exemplary Service Medal which recognizes professionals who provide pre-hospital emergency care and have performed their duties in an exemplary manner for at least 20 years. Blatz spent 17 years on the front lines and has served in a management role for the past nine years. She says it has been a privilege to be involved in a service that she may someday require.

One of the things I always enjoyed was providing care when I was in the front lines and always taking into consideration the continuum of life," Blatz indicates. "I was there being able to care for people and knowing that eventually at some point in my life, I would be in that situation and that as we give of our service to the community that these things come back. We give service and then we are on the receiving end of that as our stages in life change."

Blatz notes she looks at it as a privilege to be involved in Emergency Medical Services and part of the evolution of where EMS has gone in the province. While providing emergency care for the residents of Manitoba, Blatz adds there were no shortage of life lessons that came along the way.

"I learned many life lessons from the people that I had the opportunity to interact within the course of providing care and that's something that very much benefitted me individually in that my character grew out of the things that I learned from the people that I was able to care for."

Six other paramedics from the Southern Health region were recognized including William Vanderveen, Tom Helliwell, Stuart Cuddy, Robert Sattler, Kunegunda Fedoruk and Doreen Boyd.