Newbie Help :)

[gavinmacrae]

Greetings:

I don't quite know how to go about asking this question, so I will explain my situation in the best way that I can

I am 22 yrs old, from orangeville/oakville ontario. I finished school some years back, and did not go directly to college (which was my original plan). Our family business has always been a huge part of my life, and I have been involved in one way or another from a very early age. About three years ago, my father fell ill and could not carry on running the business anymore. I felt obligated to take his position, in which I did.

My LIFE goal (as appose to my financial goal) was to become a registered paramedic. After buying a house and a piece of land after years and years of pinching, I am now under the gun to bang the mortgages/loan down to secure somewhat of a financial future.

NOW! great story im sure your saying (or not).. but being a paramedic is my ultimate goal and after all the years that dream hasn't slipped away one bit. I cannot commit to a fulltime program in school right at this time due to the fact that the time simply does not exist for me. I am trying to work my position in the company in a way whereby I can still go to school AND still run things here, but I need time for this structuring to take place. Now, time can be good, and sometimes "time" can really SUCK! and i feel like i keep WAITING and WAITING.. when all i want to do is.. DO IT..

Here is my question.

How can I work in the field without being a registered paramedic? I want to get a volunteer position ANYWHERE I can for times that I am free (evenings/weekends). Obviously, I understand I cannot have the same duties as a registered paramedic due to the fact that the education isnt there. I want a volunteer position, doing ANYTHING to help. I dont want any pay (and i dont expect it to begin with), but I want to be involved in any way I can in the field. Now, I did the SJA route and stayed with them for about a year. I lost interest because to tell you the truth, all we did was talk about PARAMEDICS! I dont want to talk, I want to do. I took the MFR course and a few others here and there, and now I am sort of at a stand still.

How can i help? How can I be involved (even if its "bitch" work). Who should I contact? What should I say? What type of positions are available for someone in my position? I sent a letter to the EMS station in Mississauga on Hurontario but I didn't hear back and they did not return any of my phone calls. I just assumed they were not interested.

I hope someone here can point me in the right direction. Thank you for reading my post, and thank you for your time

xoxo :>

Gavin

[Acosell]

I think you are out of luck right now. Even volunteer positions are competitive at this point with new grads scrambling to get experience so they have a better shot at a paid job.

Have you looked into the part time program out of Loyalist? You may have some luck there.

[BEorP]

As per the Ambulance Act, if you want to volunteer for an ambulance service in Ontario you need to be an A-EMCA (Paramedic). This only applies to doing medical stuff of course, but I doubt you would stay interested doing anything else (after cleaning an ambulance station or truck enough times, you realize it is no more exciting than cleaning your own house or truck).

I think an excellent idea for you might be to look into a joining a reserve field ambulance unit of the Canadian Forces. They meet night a week and one weekend a month I think and you even do get paid a bit for the time you put in (I know you're not looking for money, but it never hurts). I think there are also longer courses in the summer, but they are fairly flexible. As a reserve Med Tech, you will not be trained to the PCP level, but you will get more than just SJA training. I am not sure on any of these details, but I believe they try to train reserve medics to the EMR level.

What is your ultimate goal though? Let's forget the house and financial responsibilities, do you want to be a full time Paramedic? If so, then don't worry about trying to volunteer or anything like that. If I were in your position I would start looking at other provinces where there is a need for medics currently.

[gavinmacrae]

Hello:

My goal was to work "along-side" paramedics, but as you pointed out this is not possible if I am not qualified by the province to do so. I knew a few people that lived up in the north that basically did "ride along's" with the medics for years at a time to gain experience. They were applying to school with 1200+ hours of volunteer time in the bus, and I was just wondering if that was feasible down here. I have not gone to school yet and am sort of unable to leave the province to find any work in the field.

What you say about joining the reserves, that is very interesting. Do you have any information about that? Aside from financial goals etc, my #1 TOP PRIORITY is to work as a paramedic. If i have to go through the CAF first, that is just fine. I would be willing to join the forces if my schedule could be accommodated.

You said in your post "you would not recieve the same training as a PCP, but you would have more training than SJA".. that is EXACTLY what im looking for. NOT PCP/ACP level, but something.. just SOMETHING more than SJA that is useful and somewhat rewarding to me

Something to get my feet wet so to speak

If you have any information regarding the "reserve field ambulances", let me know

thank you OH so much for your help. i appreciate your reply and i hope to hear back from you again

x0x0

Gavin

[mrmeaner]

Hopefully you find a way. You sound like someone who should be in EMS.

[BEorP]

You should be able to find contact information for a recruiting centre in your area from forces.ca and can go to army.ca (unofficial forum) to read more about it.

If your ultimate goal is to become a full time PCP though then it might be better for you to just focus on that. Definitely look into going to Loyalist as was pointed out before. Although the program is part time and must be very busy, it might be an option for you.

Please do keep in mind though that now is not the time to get into EMS, especially not in the GTA and Southern Ontario. There are many more A-EMCAs than jobs.

Even if you did get 1200 observer hours before entering a paramedic program or you were a reserve medic or you know the location of every ambulance station in your city, it will make very little (if any) difference once you are in school. I have seen people enter the paramedic program with just Standard First Aid and an interest in paramedicine who quickly become much more competent than people with many hours of ride outs or other experience (PM me if you want specific examples of what I am referring to).

I will say again though that you should be realistic about job expectations before spending two years (and a lot of money) to get your college diploma. If you will be unable to relocate for a job, you may be stuck jobless for a while after graduating before getting a medic job. I do not mean to say not pursue this goal, but rather just be realistic that even once you have graduated from college you are still only a very small way to your ultimate goal.