Answering the Call: The People Stories of PEI Ambulance Services (1905–2005)

Born and raised on PEI and now living and working in Australia, paramedic, academic, and author Dr. Alex “Sandy” MacQuarrie, along with co-author Sylvia Poirier, has released Answering the Call: The People Stories of PEI Ambulance Services (1905–2005).

Answering the Call uncovers a century of resilience, compassion, and ingenuity as Islanders built and transformed emergency care. This narrative history weaves together the personal stories of paramedics, ambulance drivers, nurses, dispatchers, funeral directors, and community volunteers—unsung heroes who responded at all hours, every season, simply because someone needed help. From the earliest horse-drawn ambulances, through decades of family-run funeral-home operations, to the modern era of trained professionals and province-wide EMS, the book captures how PEI’s ambulance service evolved in response to hardship, innovation, and community spirit.

The authors combine exhaustive archival research, dozens of interviews, and firsthand experience to illuminate the resourcefulness, rivalry, and camaraderie central to PEI’s emergency response. Readers will discover how Islanders braved midnight storms, drove makeshift ambulances across muddy roads, and answered urgent calls with little more than basic first aid and determination. Each chapter spotlights both the establishments—funeral homes, local hospitals, and fledgling ambulance companies—and the people behind the scenes who shaped, modernised, and sometimes revolutionised care on the Island.

The book chronicles the vital transition from informal, often improvised efforts to a coordinated and professional paramedicine system, nurturing roots of cooperation and training that would culminate in the unified provincial Island EMS service of 2006. Readers meet the pioneers and the quiet stalwarts, the innovators, and those who answered the call repeatedly, passing down a legacy that still shapes PEI today.

Whether drawn to rural histories, the evolution of medicine, or the strength of small communities in adversity, this tribute promises a vivid journey into the heart of PEI’s ambulance service and its people.