A Mother’s Story, A Nation’s Call for Change
- Oct 18
- 1 min read
At the 2nd Annual Canadian Pediatric Neonatal Transport Conference in Ottawa—hosted by CHEO—I had the privilege to hear the remarkable story of Addy Myers and her mother, Leah Ann. Their experience, shared with grace and courage, offered a deeply human reminder of what’s at stake when time and expertise mean the difference between life and loss. Addy’s story, told in CBC’s This Is Ottawa podcast and news coverage, highlights the incredible dedication of CHEO’s Critical Care Transport Team—an inter-professional team of nurses, respiratory therapists, and physicians who bring intensive care directly to children in crisis.
Every province in Canada has embraced this collaborative model—except British Columbia. BC remains an outlier, relying solely on paramedic-only air transport models despite mounting evidence that inter-professional critical care teams save lives, support families, and bolster community clinicians through the most challenging moments imaginable.
Today, BC continues to struggle to provide timely, high-quality transport for critically ill newborns, children, and adults alike. Med Response BC (MRBC) aims to close this gap—adopting proven, international best practices to bring inter-professional critical care air ambulance teams to our province. Families like Addy and Leah Ann’s remind us why this work matters: every child, every community, deserves the same chance at survival—no matter their postal code.
