HellsBells

Yeah you'll need to take the Gap training and have your 12-1 skills. Both of these are included in any EMT course that is offered in alberta, but I dont know exactly what you have taken in Sask. ACOP is a pain in the butt, and I'm really not suprised that they have ignored your attempts to contact them. However you should be able to find the info you need on their website collegeofparamedics.org Good Luck.

Nope, I'm pretty sure the city charges about $1.81 per month, That sounds about right.

Union votes to strike UPDATED: 2007-07-20 01:39:45 MST Members' support at 99% By BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA The city's paramedics union says it will soon be issuing a strike notice after 99% of voting members supported a walkout. Only four of the 358 EMS staff who signed ballots in three days of voting opposed a strike, surprising even the union's executive, said its president Bruce Robb. Paramedic Rina Campus said the tally proves how far apart the two sides are. "It shows our members are increasingly frustrated with wages levels as well as chronic staff shortages," said Campus. Robb noted the province has vowed to short-circuit any strike by imposing some form of arbitration "but the province can't do anything until we serve notice." The union, he said, has no choice but to up the ante any way it can. "If we do nothing, what happens? Nothing," he said, noting the logjam is now a year old. The union is demanding what it says is an 18% wage hike over three years, though the city contends the union's proposal actually amounts to a 30% hike. The city is offering 12% over three years. Robb said his executive will meet today to determine what action will be taken by the union, which has already engaged in work-to-rule activities. He said he understands a city contingency plan includes the use of transit managers with first-aid training to operate ambulances. "Comparing them to paramedics with four years of education is a bit of a stretch," he said. While the union says it wants to bridge a $6-an-hour gap with other protective services staff, city spokeswoman Vickie Megrath said the city's offer is in line with that accepted by 75% of its workers. "We think it's fair and reasonable... what the union is seeking is not affordable to taxpayers and we've also offered them a supplementary pension, which is a first for paramedics in Canada," said Megrath. Megrath also said the city offered the union voluntary binding arbitration. When including overtime and other premium pay, the city says most paramedics make $75,000 a year. But the union says relying on that overtime burns out paramedics, adding a properly-staffed service would drop earnings to $60,000.

Well you said yourself that he felt perfectly normal, you were on scene for a long time, and transported without the medics, so it sounds like you didn't think it was a true emergency. What was his reason for calling the ambulance to begin with?

I've had a student on car for about three tours now. He has come along pretty well with his pt care and assessment. However one big stumbling block seems to be his report to the nurse at triage. He gets overly flustered and seems to have trouble giving a coherent story. A lot of the time I have to jump in and get things back on track. So I was curious if any of you had any tips or techniques you use for report and could pass on. As I seem to be having trouble helping with this particular problem.

Calgary still uses the Lifepak monitors, but I've heard that the ePCR's are going to be Zoll technology.

liberal, and fascist ? communist<-----------liberal-----------------------------conservative------------->fascist Oxymoron. Although Moore isn't exactly a paragon of journalistic ethics, I think that Sicko is actually quite devoid of liberal/conservative bias, and raises the question of whether a private, for profit health care system is in the best interests of its patients. Not only that, but is it ethically, or morally defensible to operate health care in such a manner? That said, Canada's public health system is hardly the paradise Moore would have us believe, as I'm sure anyone in this country knows, we too face overcrowded waiting rooms, long waits for some important medical procedures, as well as huge fiscal expenditures and shortfalls.

We have a STEMI, LBB block protocol where we transmit the ECG via landline to the ER doc, if he agrees with our assessment we go straight to the cath lab. Just as a side note, Our protocols have really moved away from the use of Morphine in the case of acute MI. We only administer it if weve given 2.0mg of nitro with no pain relief. What our your peoples thoughts/protocols on using morphine?

EMD's with some Medical knowledge, or training, not just a week long dispatch course. Administration interested in continuing education, I.E. an in house Paramedic program for EMT level employees.

So ruffems, you think that the strike is all about the money? Well you're right, its pretty obvious, since all other issues with the city have been settled. However its not a matter of greed, but of fair compensation for the level of training thats required for the job and call volume we face every day. You say that with work to rule campaigns and strike action (which the govt will never allow) hurts the public. I'd agree to that, if it wasn't for the fact that were already in a situation where were understaffed, people are constantly working overtime, just to keep units on the street. Not to mention the fact that experienced Medics are leaving to take Industrial jobs, or even moving to lower paying jobs that have smaller call volumes. So now there are more and more inexperienced, newer people moving in to take those positions, who are getting burned out faster and faster because of the increased burden put on their shoulders. Does that sound like something thats GOOD for the public? Higher wages are the only way to attract and retain the employees that will provide the highest level of care to Calgary's citizens.

I agree with the above post. If the patient cannot bare any restraint due to panic, rather then risk a refusal of service for a potentially sick pt, I simply would not put any straps on. Of course this increases the risk for pt and providers, but its a risk I'm willing to take, as most trips to the hospital end without a traffic collision.

Well, this was from my partner, but I thought it was a really stupid thing to say given the situation. Were transporting a mid 40's male with a Bowel Obstruction, he has an NG tube stuck down his nose, overall he's not too happy with the situation. Anyway we get on the road, hear my partner from the back say "well sir, now for the first time in your life you really are full of shit." Silence follows from the Pt. He was not impressed. The other one, I heard about it secondhand, never confirmed this story, and actually I kind of hope its nots true. Anyway it goes like this, Rookie firefighter in a large urban setting, assisting Paramedics with an MVA Pt. One of the Medics passes him a C-collar and says "put this on" The rookie takes collar, puts it on his own neck.

Yeah, Mr. Sliwa was just out here in Calgary to open a chapter of the Guardian Angels, so far, there has been very minimal impact, I think there are 8 members, mostly concerned with harrassing homeless/drunks, crushing crack pipes and looking "cool" in their red jackets

Actually, I am curious about the private companies that do emergency runs. How are they dispatched to emerg calls, I assume they are part of the 911 system, but are they specially requested by the caller? What exactly determines whether NYFD or a private company show up at your door?

Well Dust, you know, I prefer Black, ballpoint pens, but thats just me. As for the difference between capillary and venous samples, good question, one that I never really though much about. According to a couple studies on the topic, there seems to a slightly higher BGL rate with venous samples between the two in healthy Pt's, but what is interesting is that in cases of hypotension capillary samples are actually quite inaccurate and venous samples seem to be more in line with lab values. I'd like to hear what you have to think about the topic, dust. http://www.bestbets.org/cgi-bin/bets.pl?record=01090 http://emj.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/22/3/177 On the other topic, I fail to see how not taking rectal temps makes the rest of the assessment unnecessary and makes me out be be some sort of shabby, lazy Ambulance driver wannabee. Sure, its a good tool to have, but I'll repeat, unnecessary in the majority of ambulance transports. You can still recognize and treat febrile pts without it. Furthermore we don't carry them on car, so its not even an option here; unless we bring them in from...home.

First of all WTF? Why should we put Pts. through the indignity of jamming a probe up their ass unless its absolutly nessesary? Seriuosly, on what % of Pts. will the Tx plan be changed because of the accuracy of a good old anal temp? Even if a Pt. is Septic, or has Pneumonia there are other clinical signs/ symptoms, and tympanic temp, will indeed show an elevated/ lowered temp (of course not as good as a core temp). Granted, they could be useful with infants, and hypothermic pts. But, overall? Not a nessesary pre-hospital tool, in my opinion. As for BGL's, don't know what you guys use out there, but after starting an IV I can use a pen to push a drop of blood out the needle onto a test strip and get a sample that way, then we dont have to poke them twice. So, most of the pts we start IV's on get BGL's.

Actually, its not true that PMA students have to go to Stony Plain, most of the Calgary students come right here to good old Calgary EMS for practicum. From what I've seen most of the students are well educated, and end up as good EMT's. Now, If you want to know a school to stay away from... SAIT is not my favorite... but that of course is MY bias talking

I get the point, I think all of you missed mine. But please continue the lists, I think you missed the Metro Mall Security Guard Police, and The Fraternal order of Bank Cop Police, The Wannabe Cop Reject Force, among many others; The Guardian Angels? Are they a Police Force as well?

You know what, you guys win okay, forget the whole damn thing. I don't know why everyone has to be so darn mean. I do however find the Jewish ambulance kind of hilarious. Do Hatzolah employees all wear side curls and use only kosher saline solutions and drugs?

Forget it, I'm not going to get into an argument here, particularly about the American health system, which is clearly a little different up North.

I have to agree that is a bad idea to have a policy that allows paramedics to outright deny patients transport. I think that if you're smart, and a half decent communicator you can usually convince your patient that its not in their best interests to be transported. If they still want to go, fine, our service has an agreement with the ER dept that allows stable pts to be downloaded to the waiting room, where they can wait for 12 hours for a doc to look at a sore toe. I think that theotherphil is right about the changing role of paramedics in the field, with the increased pt load in ER depts, changes need to be made. I just heard about a native reservation service out hear in AB that allows their Medics to do suturing on scene for non-complicated lacs. As far as the public treating us as an expensive taxi service, I think that a big part of the issue comes from a lack of knowledge as to what paramedics actually do. I find that particularly in elderly pts there is the expectation of the old school ambulance, where they just toss the pt in back and both attendants ride up front. There have actually been times where some older pts were suprised and even dismayed that I was assessing and treating them, "oh no son, I just want to talk to the doctor." It seems that for some reason we as a whole have done a poor job educating the public as to what an ALS ambulance can do and when its appropriate to call 911.

I have no problem with free-enterprise, and I'm pretty familiar with the concept. But by that logic there should be competing police services in the city too. Why should the NYPD have a monoply?

I must say after reading through this thread I'm amazed by the deverse amount of ambulance coverage in a single city; seperate ambulances for the Jews? crazy. Here in Canada the system is a lot less crowded. I work in the city of Calgary, we have the Municipal service, Calgary EMS, which responds to all emergency runs, and a transfer service run by the local health region. Granted, we only have a million people in our city, but wouldn't it be more sensible to have just FDNY ambulances respond to emerg calls citywide?

We carry gowns on our ambulances. There has only been one occasion when I needed one. This was on a transfer about 1 1/2 long where the patient had a rectal bleed, he had to move his bowels about every 30min. About an hour into the trip he didn't get onto the bed pan fast enough, made a mess over the gown and our cot, very unpleasent. Since then I've made sure we have at least one back-up gown on car. To answer the question, no I don't believe in gowning up for the hosp. Here's a good one though. We have one old nurse at our rural hosp (I think she has a touch of dementia) who yells at us for bringing in patients with their clothes cut off after a MVC. Very strange.

I was also taught that its acceptable to use traction on open compound fractures, I do see how returning the bone ends into place could introduce some pretty nasty infections. But on the other hand, its already a deep, open wound and chance for infrection is already high.