Ashley Salmen is reeling after a recent theft from her vehicle outside her Kelowna, B.C., townhouse.

“I want the uniform back. I want it off the street,” Salmen said.

Salmen is a paramedic and among the items recently stolen was her uniform and paramedic ID.

“It has the patches, the emblems and that’s my concern, is that someone is going to use this uniform for ill will,” Salmen told Global News.

The theft happened on Saturday, Jan. 31 on Kneller Road in the city’s Rutland area.

The first responder says it was just before 7 a.m. when she came home after working an overnight shift.

She says she parked her vehicle in front of her garage to run inside and grab something before leaving again. But when she got back outside, her bag was gone.

“I didn’t realize my passenger door was unlocked. I didn’t double check my vehicle because I was only going for not even two minutes,” Salmen said. “I parked at 6:50 in the morning and by 6:52 my stuff had been taken.”

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A neighbour’s security camera captured a video of a woman walking through the townhouse complex with a bicycle during that brief time Salmen was inside.

The paramedic says her bag is on the handlebars.

0:35
Firefighter uniforms stolen from North Vancouver dry cleaners

B.C. Emergency Health Services said no one was available for comment Wednesday.

RCMP confirmed they are investigating the theft and working towards identifying a suspect, including reviewing surveillance footage from the area.

“It is important to the public to know that this uniform is out there,” said Kelowna RCMP Cpl. Steven Lang.

With the uniform representing a position of authority, it raises public safety concerns if misused, something Lang said people need to be aware of.

“If they think there’s anything suspicious or the person that may be in front of them isn’t who they pretend to be or say that they are just to contact the agency that is being represented,” Lang said.

“And if their instinct is telling them something might be untoward or feels a little off, that they should believe in those signs.”

Salmen is also encouraging residents to be vigilant.

“I want the uniform back. I want it off the street,” she said.

4:03
B.C. paramedics’ union calls for mediation in contract talks

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The Saskatoon Paramedic Association says job action is now on the table, with its members voting unanimously to give the union a strike mandate.

Association president, Russell Grant, says years of recruitment and retainment challenges among both paramedics and dispatchers have left EMS staff overwhelmed.

“We are losing staff members to allied services that be like Saskatoon Police Service, Saskatoon Fire Protective Services, nursing. We also have a significant number of staff that just leave the industry entirely. And a lot of that is within the first couple years of their career, which is kind of alarming,” Grant said.

“We want to see working conditions be to the point where people actually want to stay here.”

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Grant says losing skilled staff hurts everybody, and exhaustion is driving numbers down. “This is just increasing fatigue, burnout,” he said.

“The amount of staff that are off on mental health leaves, physical health leaves is alarmingly high and it needs to be properly addressed now before public safety is negatively impacted.”

The union has been without a contract since March of 2024 and bargaining and mediation have ended in an impasse. As of now, the association has no timeline on what job action could look like, but day-to-day operations will remain largely unchanged, and any steps would come with advanced notice.

Grant hopes the possibility of a strike may lead to a deal getting done through the public’s support.

“I hope it sparks conversation amongst the public and public can then talk to their MLAs, talk to Medavie Health Services West directly, put the pressure where it needs to go to get this resolved in a timely fashion,” Grant said.

In a statement to Global News, the SHA says no job action has been taken at this time, and they will continue to work with Medavie to ensure continuity of services. Medavie added that there are no changes to 9-1-1 and residents should call as usual.

Watch above for more on why paramedics voted for a strike mandate and what’s next.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.