ESTEVAN - A member of the Estevan RCMP had his introduction to serving his country years before he joined Canada’s national police force.
Const. Kyle Secord, who has been with the Estevan RCMP since Nov. 1, 2019, served with the Canadian Forces from 2013-2019, reaching the rank of corporal when he retired. He said he wanted to be paramedic, and thought the military would be the best route available.
“In 2013, I joined up in the military as a medical technician,” said Secord. “It took about two years of training to be fully trained and to start actually working. That would have brought us to 2015, when I was posted to Kingston, Ontario, at 33 Health Services.”
Secord remained in Kingston until 2018, when he was posted to Moose Jaw. The following year, he decided to transfer his service to the RCMP.
Both of his postings were with the base hospitals.
“It was exactly what I was looking for in regards to a bigger family,” said Secord. “Growing up I had played hockey, baseball and a bunch of team sports. And I knew that I wanted to have that same feeling in my careers that I chose.”
Since he and his family lived on the base in both Kingston and Moose Jaw, and since everyone was so welcoming, he had the large support system he coveted.
During his time in the army, he picked up a lot of training and supported other units. In Kingston, for example, there was the signals and intelligence regiments, where he did a lot of training with them. When in Moose Jaw, which is a main training base for pilots, he was mostly supporting them and ensuring they were healthy and able to carry out their duties.
Being a paramedic in the Canadian Forces was different than it would have been in the health-care sector.
“As a medical technician, you fill two roles. During my day-to-day duties in the base hospitals, I had more nursing duties, but then we could also get tasked to go out into the field to support other units. Whenever we were out in the field, it was more of a paramedic role, so not so clinical.”
Each morning, those who had acute illnesses or injuries could come see the medics for treatment of their injuries or illnesses or receive follow-up care.
“And obviously if somebody got severely injured, then we would be there to provide the emergent care aspect of it as well,” said Secord.
He was not deployed to other parts of the world, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying. The medics posted to the base hospitals were mandated to support the bases.
“Most of the med. techs that got deployed were taken from field units, which unfortunately I wasn’t part of at that time,” said Secord.
He met a lot of great people through the military. Some of his closest friends to this day are individuals he met during basic training in 2013.
And it was a difficult decision to leave the forces But for the sake of his family and the people he loves, he wanted to be around more often while still supporting them.
“Some days I still even think about the military and the people that I worked with and friends that I worked with that I left behind by making the switch,” said Secord. “But it was definitely the right choice for myself and for my family as well.”
As for joining the RCMP, Secord said he wanted to be a police officer when he was younger, and since that was his original dream and he still wanted to pursue it, he decided that it was the right time. And he opted for Canada’s national police force over municipal policing because the Canadian Forces and RCMP are both federal.
The RCMP has a long history with the military as well and he still has a sense of belonging with being part of something that is bigger than him.
Secord has also been able to apply some of what he learned as a military paramedic to the world of policing.
“With the duties of being an RCMP officer, it requires us to respond to emergent situations at times,” said Secord. “My medical background and paramedic background definitely helps with that.
“I also had the opportunity to join the EMRT [emergency medical response team] and I’m blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of that team now, and whenever there’s high-risk calls or stuff like that, then we respond and are able to provide medical coverage, because the people who are part of this team have medical backgrounds, most of the time.”
He remains a supplementary reservist, which gives him the window, if he ever wanted, to go back.
Remembrance Day is a reminder of sacrifices and work that people who are serving put in, he said. It’s also a chance to remember the bravery of all those who served, and to know how fortunate people are to live in Canada.
Secord would recommend a military career for anyone considering it. He gained a valuable experience that he said he wouldn’t have had anywhere else. The sense of belonging and camaraderie that he received were pretty amazing.
“Even to this day, with the people that I meet that were also in the military, there’s just an instant connection that you have with people, with either veterans or people currently serving. It was definitely worth every second of it. The skills that I learned and the friendships that I made in the military are definitely long lasting and lifelong,” he said.
