A longtime member of the Lambton Emergency Services (EMS) team is being remembered as a dedicated paramedic, mother and wife.
Kim Doyle died suddenly on December 24. She was a paramedic for 18 years and worked out of the Thedford station.
Lambton County Manager of Emergency Services Stephen Turner said the loss has had quite the impact on the team.
"We're all pretty devastated by the loss of our colleague," said Turner. "Kim was a very valuable member of our team. We've made sure that we've got counselling services in place, trauma and crisis support counselors are available for any of our service members by phone. We've set up open house counselling de-briefs with a psychologist that we keep on retainer. We have a peer support team, made up of paramedics to help support each other through these times."
A GoFundMe to help support Kim's husband and son during this time and alleviate some of the financial stress has raised over $47,500 so far.
"I think it's been very supportive and helpful for our team to see the support from the community that's been coming through in messages through social media and e-mails," said Turner. "I've been trying to share that with our team whenever those come in."
There are 147 paramedics with Lambton EMS, 88 of which are full-time, working out of nine stations across Sarnia-Lambton.