With Heavy Hearts We Remember Michael Dutchak.

In Memory...

Michael Dutchak, the oldest of four children was born on February 21^st, 1921 to Paul and Rose Dutchak on a farm south of Blaine Lake. Young Michael Dutchak showed the spirit of a true business man at a very young age. At 12, Michael was travelling around the Blaine Lake area with a horse and buggy selling calendars and fish and buying beer bottles and horse hair. When not out trying to earn an earnest dollar, Michael was playing goalie in ice hockey or back-catcher in hardball.

Michael attended a barbering school in Saskatoon and set up shop in Blaine Lake at the age of 17 in 1938. He began to make his mark on the world starting with charging 25 cents for a shave and a haircut. At the age of 21, Michael was enlisted in the army during the Second World War. He went first to Dundurn and was then transferred to Port Alberney, British Columbia. Michael eventually landed in  Esquimalt and stayed for 4 ½ years working in the barbering trade.

It was the big band era and dances like the jitterbug and swing were at the height of their popularity. Michael wasted no time in learning the popular dances – it was a good way to meet women. While on leave back home,  Michael attended a dance in Parkside. A young lady caught his eye. And boy, could she dance. So the whirlwind romance began. Michael returned to Esquilmalt and sent his new flame, Ida Anderson, a train ticket. She came out to Esquilmalt and they were married on August 2, 1943 in Nanaimo, British Columbia. The couple moved back to Blaine Lake in 1946 after Michael was discharged from the army. Michael bought the CNR café from his father in 1947. Michael sold appliances out of the CNR café while Ida worked as cook and waitress.

While in the army, Michael along with the other recruits was taught basic first aid. Around Blaine Lake, he was known as having some medical knowledge and he was often called upon to treat and transport the sick and injured to the nearest hospital. As Michael says, “A little training can go a long way.”

Over the next 10 years, Michael and Ida ran the CNR café, and transported the residents of Blaine Lake and area when needed. The children also started arriving with Barry, Wayne, Barbara, Gail and David. The CNR café was eventually sold in 1957 and the full time transport of patients started with a black station wagon which Michael installed a siren and a “cherry”.

The farthest trip that Michael ever did was from St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 1959. The patient’s name was John Salen. They stayed for 2 weeks and transported the patient back home. Total payment for the trip = $450.00. This paid for lodging and meals but did not include the price of gas. This Rochester trip broke in the first brand new “ambulance”.

Michael was also one of the founding directors of the SRA-Saskatchewan Road Ambulance in 1959. It was created as a non-profit organization to answer the need for a unified body to represent the ambulance profession in Saskatchewan. The Association was established to provide guidance, support and a common voice on behalf of all ambulance services within Saskatchewan.  In later years, the name changed to SAA-Saskatchewan Ambulance Association and then in 2000, to SEMSA or the Saskatchewan Emergency Medical Services Association. Today it represents 83 out of 109 services in Saskatchewan.

News of the new ambulance service spread by word of mouth. Sometimes you got paid and sometimes you didn’t. People paid you with anything they had to give, and often times they had nothing to give. Responding to a call, any call, became of utmost importance not only for financial means but for the establishment of the service. This meant that the phones, when they arrived in Blaine Lake, had to be manned all the time. Ida, as well as children Barbara, Gail, and Dave as they got older,  worked dispatched 24-7. There was no time for family vacations and many a family supper was disrupted by the phone ringing with yet another call.  Recreational activities and after school pursuits were second to the dispatching for the company.  

In order for Blaine Lake Ambulance to survive, it needed a  place to house the ambulances and medical equipment. Michael approached the Industrial Development Bank in hopes of securing a loan for a measly $25000.00. The bank did not think that this was quite possible but IDB took a chance and lent him the money. The present ambulance base was completed in 1971 in a construction time frame of 6 weeks. The bank couldn’t quite believe that either. The base consists of a two storey white concrete building, capable of housing 4 units in the lower portion. Living quarters occupy the top level and a radio and TV repair and a barber shop occupied the bottom level as well as the ambulance office. Michael also fulfilled and provided of  number of other services in the Blaine Lake area too numerous to mention. Anything and everything to be done in order to pay the bills and keep Blaine Lake Ambulance afloat. As Michael says, “When you don’t know any better, you don’t miss anything. When you need the money, you go when you can for however long you can.”

In 1973, tragedy struck the family. Ida had suffered a debilitating stroke and died on October 25^th. The family not only lost a wife and mother, but Michael had lost a business partner – someone who wholeheartedly believed in him and his dream. Ida was Michael’s first partner, not just in marriage, but also in the ambulance. She is sadly missed and greatly loved. For such is life, it has a funny way of continuing on regardless of circumstances or losses. Keeping the dream alive was now solely left up to Michael with the help of his children. 

By the early 70’s, other communities were interested in securing an ambulance service. By this time, Wayne had already moved back to Blaine Lake and had been working with his father for a year. In 1974 with Wayne by his side, Michael established Spiritwood Ambulance. Wayne left Spiritwood Ambulance in the capable hands of George Beaulac which was later owned and operated by Michael’s daughter and son-in-law, Gail and Garry St. Onge. Wayne went on to Prince Albert to establish Parkland Ambulance in the fall of 1974. He was later joined by his older brother Barry. Inroads were made into Saskatoon by providing a unit from Blaine Lake to do stand-bys at the race track and by 1976, MD in Saskatoon was in its infant stages and becoming quite a going concern. Along the way NCAA, or the North Central Ambulance Association was born. It is still the largest privately run ambulance service in Canada – owned and operated by Michael Dutchak and family.

Advancements in EMS have occurred in leaps and bounds over the last 40 years. For example, the EMT course was not taught in a formal education institution until the mid 80’s when SIAST offered the first certificate program in Saskatchewan due to industry pressure. The first ever EMT course in Saskatchewan graduated 24 students in June of 1974. It was run by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians based in Ohio.

With the passing of the Ambulance Act in 1980, ambulance services within Saskatchewan were finally legitimized and regulated. The creation of the government ASU or the Ambulance Services Unit guaranteed that standards would be maintained through monitoring and the issuing of protocols regarding the scope of practice for all EMS practitioners. 

The lack of funding for all ambulance services was brought to the forefront of the government’s agenda when a great number of ambulances converged on Albert Street in Regina and proceeded to the steps of the legislature. This prompted the commissioning of the Birkbeck Report, which made it apparent that adequate funding, other than that provided by the RAMROD program, would be required for a quality EMS system to exist in Saskatchewan. By the mid 1980’s, the government subsidies were initiated through Saskatchewan Health to ease the financial burden placed on ambulance services, not just by the Ambulance Act, but just by the virtue of the business itself and the type of equipment needed for the EMT level of practice. Insurance companies such as Blue Cross GMS, DVA and INAC providing coverage for ambulance costs also lightened the financial load on the private and publicly owned operators. Life for an EMS operator was finally getting easier. These events paved the way for many more advancements in EMS in Saskatchewan. 

30 years after Michael had perfected his moves on the dance floor and caught Ida’s eye, his superior dancing ability caught the eye of Mary Billay in 1975. Mary herself had had an early exposure to the world of medical aid. She had taken a first aid course in 1952 with her first husband. Mary was a school teacher and spent the last 17 years of her career as an elementary school principal at Meath Park. She retired from teaching in 1984 and received her designation along with Michael as an EMT that same year. In 1985, she moved to Blaine Lake full time and supported Michael in the running of Blaine Lake Ambulance as a casual EMT and full time office manager. She draws the parallel between teaching and being an EMT. For one, you have to know how to talk to people and two, you genuinely must like dealing with people in any situation.

On May 31^st, 1996, Michael and Mary were travelling back to Saskatoon from Blaine Lake when they were struck by a school bus. The accident left Mary with bruising and broken ribs. Michael was left with a collapsed lung and a concussion. The owner of Blaine Lake Ambulance had to put his trust with his health in the hands of his very own staff. He had spent 3 weeks in the hospital in recovery. He had celebrated his 75^th birthday months prior to the accident – maybe now it was time to slow time and smell the roses.

The third generation of EMS within the Dutchak family made its appearance at Blaine Lake Ambulance in May of 1992. Keith Woytiuk, son of Barbara, started working as an EMR for Grandpa Mike. Keith later obtained his EMT designation in October of 1996. The third generation was also showing it stuff in Prince Albert at Parkland Ambulance with the appearance of Trevor Dutchak, Barry’s son.

The use of radios did not start full time for Blaine Lake Ambulance until 1994. Dispatching services were first provided by MD Ambulance and later Parkland Ambulance with the 310-5000 emergency number. Provincial 911 did not take effect for the Blaine Lake Ambulance coverage area until 2001. But old habits die hard. The original 7 digit number is still in effect but on a diverter to 911 for those of the older generation who think that Michael is still around to answer the phone. 

On December 15^th, 1998, Michael sold Blaine Lake Ambulance to his grandson Keith and wife Diana who also holds an EMT designation. Since taking over, Keith and Diana have extended the base by building a 900 square foot addition for two ambulance bays. Keith, like his grandfather, has found the perfect balance between business and patient care, always recognizing that patient care comes first. You treat each and every patient as if  they were part of your family is something Keith tells all of his employees. That’s what Keith’s first employer in EMS impressed upon him. In its 50 years since its inception, Blaine Lake Ambulance has employed over 100 people, half of those as EMTs. Many individuals have used their experiences at Blaine Lake Ambulance to further their careers with larger companies in the urban areas or explore other emergency services such as fire and police. Others have been able to secure ownership of their own companies. 

Michael has pretty much retired from the world of EMS. And he never did deliver a baby throughout his whole entire career. The running of MD in Saskatoon has been left up to his son Dave, but one will see Michael wondering around MD from time to time. Michael will still tell you that the thrill of EMS is still in his blood. Michael was quoted in the Star Phoenix in 1976 as saying that “if someone points my way and says, “There’s the guy that saved my life”, that’s enough for me. 

So, with 50 Years of EMS passed, we not only celebrate the founder of Blaine Lake Ambulance, we celebrate what he has contributed to EMS in Saskatchewan. We also celebrate the Dutchak children and their children who have contributed to the building of this legacy. There are quite a few of us that can truly say we would not be in EMS if not for Michael Dutchak. Thank you is a very inadequate word but the only word to say in return for all the hard work and dedication that you Grandpa Mike have shown to EMS in Saskatchewan. You make us in EMS proud to say we know you and worked for you. You make us proud to be part of the 50 years of family.

YOU WILL BE MISSED DEARLY...BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN.

Some Pictures to Remember
Michael Dutchak

SEMSA
105-111 Research Drive
Saskatoon Saskatchewan
S7N 3R2

Ph: (306)382-2147
Fx: (306)955-5353
E-Mail: semsa@innovationplace.com