ukcanuck

Mattie457 If you want to PM me I made the move from the UK to Canada and managed to get ACP reg over here. I could give you some pointers and direction. Cheers

@basejump - sorry don't get it maybe your brand of humour/sarcasm is too urbane for me but no matter which way I look at that equation I don't see the punch line. @rock shoes - good job keep up the work and get that degree, nowadays you need pieces of paper to get ahead and thats a good one to get @tnuiqs - yeah I will end up taking the course when it expires that way I am seen to be up to date as much as I can be just look at it as a tax on keeping my registration. @ mobey - thanks for the offer and just how far east are we taking?? remember on my map anything east of the rockies is just labeled "there be dragons" thanks for the offer and if I am out that way I will drop you a line - what other courses do you run as I might do a week of collecting the alphbet courses cheers Thanks everyone for the thoughts

Ahhhhh, thats where it starts to unravel a bit as if you are a remote medic such as I, I have to do an ACLS every four years but a MCP trained EMT P doesn't have to do anything. The AHA/CHSF still put a expiry date of two years on the card so to stay "legal" I have to do a course every two years. According to ACoP I ahve to do it every four years? Very confusing but hey didn't expect anything different......... guess I get to do the ACLS refresher every two years. Do you know if the MCP training is available for outside AHS paramedics?? That would be great as finding courses etc for outside of AHS and BCAS is proving challenging. Cheers

Very true - as a member in good standing you can provide all the skills and drug therapy that is covered by ACLS and without a current ITLS/PHTLS you still do the surgical cric/needle decomp. I am doing it early after two years for educational credits for my BC reg and for my four year plan for ACoP. It is a grey area as I see it as the recommended renewal by the owners of the course is two years so if you are behind the trend in care or do something slightly wrong then I suppose technically you don't have the ACLS to fall back on as it is out of date. Hows the course going over in AB?

Just a quick question for the members here. The listed expiry on my card is two years but ACoP have confirmed that it is good for four years. So the question is when do I actually have to re do it? And if I let it go to four years am I liable as I have knowingly let it lapse? Just wondering what everyone else is doing. Cheers

Hey Rock Shoes Just read the last bit of your reply, does your friend still need help with UK?

When you can PM me and I will try to help. I did 15 yrs NHS then moved back to Canada. Biggest problem will be the work visaeven before the qualifications also everything depends on where you want to move to. Each Prov is slightly different - not like UK where the ticket is good for everywhere. Drop me a line

B.C. Registered Advanced Care Paramedics (ACP) Frontier Medical Canada Ltd. provides advanced medical support to remote work environments both in Canada and abroad, offering clients a complete medical care package with full management and 24/7 clinical support. We have an immediate need for ACP’s registered in B.C for several summer projects. Offering $550/day plus flights and travel days, employees will be eligible for benefits and continued work throughout the year. Qualifications: • ACP Registered (B.C) • ITLS • ACLS • H2S Alive • OFA III or PII • Current CPR Frontier Medical Canada Ltd. will be willing to help support medics in completing certain certifications. All applications will be considered. Applicants can forward their resume to: Jillian VanEngen, Human Resources Manager at jillian.vanengen@exlogs.com or fax their application to: (403) 291-3152

No particular order just coming off the top of my head as I stare at the screen. If you are worried about plastic blades have a look at "Timesco" website, they are UK based but provide metal single use blades and handles. Only thing you keep after a call is the batteries. Better than the plastic ones no sterilisation issues.If they have them over there they should have them here. GUM bougies are available in at least three sizes right down to peds try to get all of them for the dif airway. If you do lots of peds calls consider the LMA as they have peds sizes. Think about a lockable fridge to extend the shelf life of perishable drugs. A transport syringe pump driver and/or IV pump for meds EZIO over the FAST as it has a wider age range and multiple sites to use. It even comes with a sternal screw adapter now. CPAP - reduce the number of tubes you have to do and increase care. sidestream ETCO2 for both the intubated and non intubated patients transport vent is a must and will come down to what you/med dir prefer it to do but try to keep it simple to use. thats all for now sure there is more but the camp cook has just served supper Congrats on going ALS I hope the transition goes well

Barriers are both practical and financial as some people just don't have the time to keep up all the little tickets that you have to travel for to have a shot at a job for some services. You almost have to give up your job and move on spec to where you want to be then hope that a spot comes up before you go broke/crazy. That doesn't even start to touch on what you have to do to come over as a international paramedic. A friend of mine has just got his AB registration and one of the courses he had to do was a CPR C ticket dispite being ALS provider and able to prove a UK CPR ticket???? He has jumped the hoops cause he, like me, thinks in the long run it will be worth it. I didn't even think about trying to get my credentials done via the B. institute....... kinda figured that having UK tickets I wouldn't get past the front door. I love the fact that the government is training and assisting people to get qualifications for a job that currently has very little job opportunity..... that is so govt like As for spots in AB for ACPs, every service I have talked to says that they need or will need ACPs esp with experience. Active recruiting is another matter with the odd one popping up here and there and then it has some small course as a requirement for selection that most people from outside the prov will not have. Mobility between provinces FAIL We currently have an illusion of mobility between provinces. You can get the registration but getting the job is another matter. Services set different requirements for selection/interview/employment that make it difficult for applicants to attain and maintain for possible vacancies. But as you say, taking foreign trained doc make them ACPs to fill spots that aren't there when there are doc spots to be filled????? makes sense to me?????? Or are they planning to use them as advanced paramedics kinda like an Emergency Care Practitioner role in the rural communities and they don't have to pay them as docs cause they aren't?????? Nah thats takes planning and forethought........... Apology accepted gratefully and I will keep on slugging away at the pitches and one of them will be a home run - I hope Be safe with that OFA first aid kit - its dangerous you know

Been chatting with WCB just recently about the paramedic in industry course and it appears that an ACP does not have to do the course but only if they are operating as an ACP and NOT the designated first aider??????????????? So if an ACP is to be the "first aider" as well they have to do the course which is known to be of a lower level and lower treatment/care levels. That is excellent in my book <sarcasm> I'm off to the NWT for the summer season! Talking about barriers to Labour Mobility in Canada there are several even once you get your prov lic. Services that will not offer you an interview as you don't have that provinces drivers licence but you can't get one without moving there and you don't want to move there without said job?? Services that want you to be base hospital certified but you can only get BH certified if you work for a service that the BH covers. Provincially mandatory training for equivalency candidates before you can get hired.$$$$$ Small day long courses for differing topics that become requirements for employment/interview but they are only available in that area so you have to fork out cash to go do it.$$$$$$$ and they are not required by other services in that area or province. Differing requirements for pre interview medical/physical testing and even then the certificates are only good for a few months at best so you end up having to go back again and again forking out more cash even before you have an interview let alone a job. Ridiculously short time frames from advert to interview to selection to start date. Multiple and separated dates for the different elements to the selection procedure. I don't mind doing all of that but I don't think it right to make prospective candidates to do it all even before an interview. I'll jump through whatever hoops an employer wants after they have at least offered me an interview. I don't mind that the local applicant will have it easier hell he's the local it is always going to be easier for them but how about at least giving some of us that are a little further away a bit of a chance? The only area that I can see is anywhere close to mobile is industry. The courses I have taken are nationally recognised and apart from working as a "designated first aider" in BC I can apply for registration in a province then start working in industry. Just my take on it

Or you can fill out several forms with a photo and send off more forms to registration bodies for verification when EMALB can look on the web. Then wait for permission to sit the online open book e mail a buddy exam of 24 yes folks 24 questions then wait several more weeks to get your BC licence, this I can handle as almost all the provinces do similiar things and means you can move provinces but have to pre plan it so maybe a temp inter provincial registration should be introduced?? Just an idea?? Thats when you get to communicate with worksafe BC aka WCB...... after proving to the province once that you can operate at the PCP/ACP levelyou then get to do it again and you then have to do some modules at home which of course tax your skills and brain ??? and sit a 4 hour course after which you will magically be skilled and educated to look after industrial type people. Are they different to the people who dial 911. If they dial 911 at work does BCAS have to find someone who has done the extra endorsement?? I personally can't see how anyone could say that this is a barrier to the free movement of labor Freakin unreal is what it is!!!!!!!! OFA is not under the EMALB and so is not mandated by AIT as far as I can tell. Two separate entities who do not talk to each other as I can't get an answer out of either as to what a PCP/ACP needs to do to be "allowed" to work for industry. Great...........

Hello there Just wanted to ask the BCAS guys and gals out there if they have any information about current hiring (or non hiring as the case may be) of ACPs. I am living in BC again and just finished the AIT process for BC and am waiting for my lic from EMALB. Used to work for BC many many years ago as EMA1 and now trying to move back. Not the best of timings I know but looking across the country now is not a great time to move back into canadian EMS it seems. I am in contact with ACP recruiting in Victoria and just looking for the view from the street. I actually oddly want to work Vancouver so that is not an issue but would be willing to post to any ALS station. Any info, tips, hints, or warnings would be greatly appreciated. Either on the board or PM me. Cheers Ukcanuck

Too damn right So back to the actual thread - anyone heard of any jobs going in the Calgary area for EMT/EMT-P? there is also SSSD - same s**t same day for those really good days

Yep, had partners of ALL levels freeze, including pre hospital doctors, on calls and some even needed a slight gentle nudge across the back of the head to get them moving. That is not a ALS/BLS issue that is a person to person issue. What I am saying is that the ambulance crew should be just that - a crew - not two individuals working the same truck. Maybe it is just me expecting too much from my partner and maybe it is a good reason to ahve two paramedics on each truck???