cprted

Why not submit it as an article to JEMS?

Exactly. Don't reinvent the wheel. Dodge, Chev and Ford make Police versions of their SUVs and there are standard options for all of the equipment racks and emergency lights, etc.

I know two Paramedics from my service who have gone through the RT program. Both of them love their new jobs!

Thanks HellsBells and the others who responded via PM! Helps answer a few questions. I really appreciate it.

Hi City, I'm currently PT PCP-IV with BC Ambulance and have been mulling over opportunities to the east. I was wondering if anyone working for or around AHS-EMS can shed some light on their experience. Is this a good organization to work for? What's good? What's not so hot? I see positions being posted for the larger centres (Calgary, Edmonton, Medicine Hat, etc), are these positions filled by seniority from within AHS first? There are a few casual positions posted as well. How does casual work with AHS. Do casuals submit availability or are they scheduled as needed? The posting also distinguish between "work" and "on-call." Is "on-call" similar to the BCAS pager system ($2/hr to pack a pager)? Searched around on the net and wasn't able to find too much recent info. Many thanks in advance!

Complete non-issue so long as they are competent and professional. In Canada it would be illegal to not hire someone on the basis that they were a transvestite.

And God bless them too!

That is the reality of our jobs. People don't just call 911 Monday-Friday 9-5.

I haven't. Having CCT out of Kelowna, we don't see the Vancouver CCT crews very often. Lately we've been doing way more ITT transfers than CCT. Those guys/gals have a cool job!

My typical reaction to anything buy the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is, "**** right off." They're pretty anti-eveything. The idea of the government soliciting for donations also doesn't sit well with me. If the Critical Care Transport/Air Ambulance Program is an important part of pre-hospital and inter-hospital care in BC, should we be funding it with tax dollars? At the same time, the cost difference is substantial. I can think of a lot of ways BCAS could use that extra money (not that the government would actually give it to us), a few more A cars in the urban centres, bumping some K cars up to F cars, expanding ALS coverage, maybe a raise ... ok now I'm getting greedy ... I don't actually know anything about STARS other than they seem to have a good reputation.

The large regional hospital in the next city over from me has some horrific wait times. There have been more than a few patients that have been held in the ambulance off-load delay area for 10-12 hours. Not uncommon at all for people with non-urgent problems, but just sick enough that can't go into the minor treatment area, to wait 3-5 hours before getting a bed being seen.

I think people need to take the show for what it is, a fictional drama meant to entertain the masses. It isn't supposed to be a documentary.

Not sure why this is in the "Funny Stuff" section ... this is proven fact

You will have to write Alberta's jurisprudence exam, but you are correct that there are no large written or practical exams like when you are applying for your first licence. I've never had any dealing with ACP, but my understanding is that the equivalency process can be quiet a slow one. Apparently 8-9 months is pretty standard fare from the time you send in your application to actually getting an Alberta License. This is of course, just what I've heard through the grapevine. I've never applied for an AB license myself.

Up here, I've seen a lot of people with boots on their boat and RV trailers to keep them from getting stolen.

A lot of the material to cover in an EMR class (assuming EMR in the states is at least similar to EMR in Canada ... ) is teaching tactile skills (spinal motion restriction, applying a traction splint, CPR, AED, etc etc. In my limited teaching experience, what I've done is Discuss, Demonstrate, Describe, Do. After a discussion on principals of management or what-have-you, run a demonstration at normal speed, follow that up by a step by step demo with explanation, allow for some questions, and then turn your students loose in their groups to work through the skill. Once everyone has had a chance to practice the skill once or twice, we usually run full call simulations that incorporate what they just practised into the context of their patient assessment model.

Sounds like a great idea, hopefully it catches on. What would be helpful is an "About Us" type page with more information about how the site works, what info will be available for who to see, etc. There doesn't seem to be very much info available without dropping my name and email address into a registration form.

As far as BC goes, Penticton Regional Hospital keeps 2-3 doses of anti-venom (for rattlesnakes) in stock but South Okanagan General (Oliver) and Keremeos D&T do not. We don't carry anything specific to snake bites on car. Like others have said, anti-venom is expensive and has a short shelf life. We don't get that many snake bites. Maybe one or two per year.

Like others have said, accreditation only matters if you're planning to apply for a PCP license outside of Ontario. It will make no difference to the licensing process in Ontario or getting hired within Ontario.

Get over yourself. If someone wants to cut me a break on a cup of coffee, great, if not, that's fine too. Why should a private business should be required to subsidize my need for coffee?

I can't comprehend how a criminal record check isn't already required ... Our membership requirements to volunteer for St. John Ambulance are stricter than what scratrat is describing ...

What additional pain meds are being considered for PCPs in Sask? In BC, all we have is Entonox.

You mean something like this? http://www.fedsig.com/products/253/rumbler

This is my favourite part!

This gentleman giving advice on medical proceedures should carry just as much influence as me giving tactical ammunition suggestions.