BEorP

Do you really think that the public thinks at all about the scope of the person who comes with the ambulance when they call 911? I think when people hear you are a Paramedic they assume you have an ambulance and will drive them to the hospital.

After 4 years in school, a degree in Paramedicine, and passing the AEMCA I think I should be able to call myself a "Paramedic." Do you not think that the title is earned by the education (even if just 2 years) and critical thinking abilities rather than the skills that can be performed?

It seems like the thing that new PCPs in Ontario will need to keep in mind as we graduate is that although we each have our ideal service to work for, a job is a job and we're not paid on commission.

Unlike most ACP programs in Ontario, I do not see any hours or years of experience requirement listed on the Algonquin site. I'm just wondering if they really let you go in right after doing the AEMCA and if any other of the ACP in Ontario programs do.

I don't mean to hijack the thread but it sure seems like fatal ambulance crashes are much much more common in the U.S. When riding out I buckle up in the front but not the back. This is the same as most of the medics I've ridden with (never have I seen them buckle up in the back).

I believe there are some Level 2 TEMS Tractical Medics

I don't really think I'm in much of a place to argue with an RT on a topic like this, but from Brady Essentials of Paramedic Care: "The oxygen saturation measurement obtained through pulse oximetry is abbreviated Sa[sub:de25d97509]2[/sub:de25d97509] (oxygen saturation). When pulse oximetry first came into use, some authors abbreviated the oxygen saturation measurement as SpO[sub:de25d97509]2[/sub:de25d97509]. However, this was sometimes confused with the PaO[sub:de25d97509]2[/sub:de25d97509] obtained during blood gas measurement. SaO[sub:de25d97509]2[/sub:de25d97509] is recognized throughout the paramedic profession."

It matters if you are learning to assist in ALS skills... I'd rather have an ACP teaching me what they want done to help than a PCP teaching me what they do to help. Also having ACP or CCP instructors most likely means that they will have had more experience on the road that they can bring to the classroom.

They mean the same thing. Some people now prefer to use "SaO[sub:4c20fde55f]2[/sub:4c20fde55f]" for O[sub:4c20fde55f]2[/sub:4c20fde55f] sat since SpO[sub:4c20fde55f]2[/sub:4c20fde55f] was sometimes confused with PaO[sub:4c20fde55f]2[/sub:4c20fde55f] obtained from a blood gas measurement.

How many services actually carry epi pens? What is so hard about having an amp of epi and a syringe?

I am a Semester 2 student at Centennial and hate the politics (but I don't know how much worse it is than any other school). That being said, I do not think that there is too much theory at all... we definitely do a lot of practical stuff and are expected to spend a ton of time in lab practicing. Riding out in Toronto also sounds like it will be a definite plus going by what I've heard from the Semester 4 students. Congrats on being accepted into all those programs!

Colleges can usually do whatever they want if it's written in the policies for the program. In my PCP program (and I believe many in the province) you could have a 99% in the academic work for the prehospital care class and still fail just for failing your final scenario.

If you're not doing enough scenarios in class then get a group together and start practicing. In my PCP program right now we only do 4 hours a week of lab time with the instructors but spend at least 15 hours a week practicing on our own. The academic work is important, but when it comes down to it, this is a hands on job.

It's completely different when something is related to treating a pt... if a pt tells you they just shot up, are you going to have them arrested?

If a pt admits to using heroin to you, are you going to tell the police also? I sure hope not...

It's different when it's something you find out from access you had while treating a pt

Assuming your friend was giving CPR for the right reasons, the pt was dead already :wink: I guess you can be sued for anything, but I would not be too concerned as long as he did not screw something up or try to do a skill he isn't certified to do. Just doing CPR and having the pt die when off duty I wouldn't be too worried about.

I'm just a PCP student, but in lab the way we seem to do it is: - KED for stable pts only, which means basically no one who has been in a car accident (unless it is extremely minor but they are complaining of head/neck pain with no other injuries) - for pts who are not stable but do not have an ABC problem, we usually collar and then try to slide the board under them (or usually part of their butt) and then turn them onto the board and lie them down - rapid extrication (meaning hold C-spine and try to move along the long axis of the body but just get them out fast) for pts who have problems with ABCs or if the car becomes unsafe

I'm also a Semester 2 PCP student and am not happy at all about the strike (in fact, some would say I'm a bit pissed) I really don't care how horrible management is being (although a 12.6% pay increase over 4 years with no increase in workload sounds pretty good) No matter what management did, I highly doubt that any of our instructors are having trouble getting food on the table and it was the union's decision to strike If they really cared about the students they would not be on strike

I would not see as much of a problem if you were going to graduate as an EMT-B and spaz out at first and not know how to talk to patients since EMT-B is Basic and you aren't expected to be the most trained provider. But... When you're an EMT-P, you're the highest trained and I think that because of that you should at least know how to talk to a patient before you graduate. I also feel that you should not need to be treated like a newbie when you're an EMT-P. If you put some field time in as a Basic then when you're a Medic you won't be new to the field, or talking to patients, or critical decision making. The only thing new will be a few extra skills and drugs.

I guess now I'll ask the second part of my question or explain why I asked it in the first place. I'm a first year Paramedic student in Ontario now... I've been looking at various options of things to do in the summer and this seems like a potential way to get out of the province while still making money (as opposed to just traveling or just doing pt transfer here in Ontario). The plan would be to come back to Toronto in September to continue my PCP education. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? I guess it will be a bit of a waste to need to take an EMR class when I should already know most of the stuff... but it still seems like a good opportunity to make some money and see a different part of Canada.

Emergency Medical Responder

Just curious as to what employment opportunities for EMRs in BC and Alberta are like (in terms of how easy it is to find a job and what most jobs actually consist of). I thought I read somewhere about EMRs in Alberta working in the oil fields... if this is correct, has anyone done this or know anything about it?

In Ontario I'd have to say yes. Our lowest level after First Responder is PCP and there's no reason to put someone with at least two years of education on a truck that just does stable transfers.

I don't know how big your school is and if there would be a need, but have you considered forming a campus response team? By this I mean running 24/7 and responding to 911 calls (in addition to the normal EMS provider) on campus rather than just standby medical coverage. This may be a good way for you to help the college community, while doing something that is fun and will hopefully look good when you try to get a job after school. Many universities here in Ontario have these teams... I'm on duty right now here in Toronto.