MOOSE JAW — During a heartfelt Paramedic Services Week reunion, a man met the paramedics who gave him a second chance at life following a sudden cardiac arrest on his rural farm east of Moose Jaw.
On March 1, Carl Brentnell, a rural resident just south of Belle Plaine, experienced seizure-like symptoms that quickly escalated into cardiac arrest. His family promptly called 911 and began CPR under the guidance of emergency dispatchers.
Advanced care paramedics Arvy Abarquez and Billy Gibbs arrived within minutes to administer life-saving treatment, despite a 30-minute distance from their base in Moose Jaw.
"They saved my life," Brentnell said. "It's sort of like a miracle. One to two per cent of people in that situation survive, and I managed to come out of it with no side effects."
Upon arrival, the paramedics recognized a deadly arrhythmia and administered a defibrillation shock, restoring Brentnell’s heart rhythm. When his heart slipped back into a dangerous rhythm, they performed a synchronized cardioversion, stabilizing him before transporting him to Regina General Hospital.
"It was just such a great opportunity being there and being able to apply the training and seeing the results," Abarquez said, as the two paramedics turned to Brentnell with visible emotion. "Having Carl with us right now, it's just really great."
Gibbs added, "Our job comes with a lot of negatives, so it feels really good to be part of a positive. Sometimes we do these calls and we never hear about what happens after. This just makes us feel better about our job."
The reunion, held at the Medavie Health Services West base at 781 High Street West, also offered insight into the rigorous training and coordinated teamwork that made the life-saving response possible.
“Arvy (Abarquez) is an advanced care paramedic,” explained Corey McNeice, senior operations manager at Medavie Health Services West. “Those designations matter. Advanced paramedics can identify and intervene early in deadly arrhythmias, provide cardiac medications, and perform advanced airway support. It’s that training that made all the difference that day.”
Dispatchers played another critical role in the effort. “While I was on the call with 911… they were saying to me, ‘Okay, they’re just turning onto the grid road. They’re at the farm now. They just pulled up. They’re coming in,’” recalled a family member. That strong communication kept the family grounded and gave them hope.
Another family member who was at the farm compared it to something from his own experience — a high-stakes hockey match. “I’ve coached for 22 years. What I saw that day, how calm and precise they were under pressure, was like watching a championship team. Everyone knew their role, and they executed it flawlessly.”
That level of performance, McNeice explained, is built on continuous training and deep trust. “We train intense so that when we have those moments, it’s muscle memory,” he said. “Let’s say Billy was grabbing a piece of equipment… Arvy knows already where he’s going with that, and he knows step two, because we train so often.”
Brentnell, still processing his improbable survival, said the team now feels like family.
“These guys are family to me now,” he said. “They were there when I needed them, and I’ll never forget that.”
As Paramedic Services Week drew to a close, Brentnell’s story stood as a powerful reminder of the vital role paramedics play in life-or-death moments — and of the compassion and professionalism shown by responders like Abarquez and Gibbs, whose swift actions embody the week’s theme: caring for everyone.
