The paramedic appealed, and according to the article in the Star, succeeded with his appeal. In the absence of access to the actual decision, it is difficult to comment on the reasoning behind this outcome in this particular case.  However, the result is not altogether unusual.  In many cases that have proceeded to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, a worker has succeeded in connecting an accident away from the workplace and during "off duty" time to his or her employment.  Some of these cases include slips and falls while on a lunch break or coffee break at the closest coffee shop to the workplace, injuries during employer-sponsored (or endorsed) charity events, company picnics, work-outs in the workplace fitness room before or after the start of a shift, fitness or sporting activities encouraged by or endorsed by the employer, and even accidents during the impromptu pick-up ball hockey game in the employer's parking lot after work. The key in almost all of these types of decisions is whether there is a demonstrable connection between the accident and the employment.  Is there an employment "nexus"?  Employers can take steps to strengthen or weaken this nexus through employee directives and policies, by attempting to control or limit employee conduct away from work, or by taking careful steps to create a distance between the choices an employee makes while away from work and the relationship between those decisions and the employment.  Every case and every type of situation needs to be considered