BEorP

Well there's an embarrassing typo. Yes, I mean deceased, not diseased :oops:

Very interesting to read the EMS section. Seems so strange that a police officer wanted the diseased transported with lights and sirens though.

Me too. I do not frequent the chat so I do not know if it is preventing spammers there, but it is causing so many more crap posts (more or less spam) on the forum.

If that is the US equivalent of a Canadian campus response team then yes. What would you like to know? Please don't tell me this was just so you could get into the chat.

In Ontario, Primary Care Paramedics (BLS) are typically paid more than Nurses.

Thanks for the update, it's great that it worked out.

Everyone fails sometimes. Pick yourself up, figure out how you can improve, and try again.

Maybe the OP put it in this forum because it is funny that anyone will work for some of the wages paid to EMTs in the U.S. In Ontario we are paid very well. Want to know why? Because we are educated. This does not mean that we are in it for the money though.

It's true that a First Responder should be ready for any call, but really at that level there are not too many varieties of calls since you aren't transporting and don't give any meds. If the pt is actually sick or hurt you give them oxygen, if they are bleeding you stop it, if they have been in a car accident get them out and spinal them, if it is just a medical call give them oxygen and ask lots of questions. There's not a whole lot to it.

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.

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.

The final module of the aeromedical program is "Aircraft Orientation": I believe that there are a few members who have done the aeromedical program so I was hoping there might be some suggestions of where I should try to do this. Would this be a good time for me to get in touch with flight providers up north that I will be applying to work for upon completion of the course so that it would give me an opportunity to meet someone there and make a good impression or will they not care to waste their time with me? Or since they even say it does not need to be an air ambulance provider would I be better off just finding someone with a plane and an hour or two who can go through the checklist with me?

This sounds like the type of situation where a uniform would be needed.

Nursing shouldn't take too long since you already have a BA.

So do you transport? And if so, what do you do about losing staff members who should have been on site for the event?

Dust, I think you really need to write an autobiography.

I've also asked twice about this fix figure job in the past but gotten no reply... and asked about what the BA was in and the MA is going to be in. Not everything seems to add up.

In this case there is a good chance they are dead (plus they don't even know where they are). There is no point in risking people's lives, but they might as well keep with the drilling just in case since it's safe.

I guess you'll need to go with the beat up civic with lights. You've got two years to get there. :wink:

Most people who didn't put lights on their beat up civic at the age of 18 probably had serious career thoughts before EMS. I'm hoping to hear from a number of people who are willing to share what their career would have been if they hadn't gotten into EMS somehow. For those of you who are out of EMS or considering getting out, feel free to share what you are planning on doing after (or are doing). I will start it off by saying that I was going to be a math teacher. I had been accepted into a concurrent math and education program at a local university but then ended up applying for a paramedic program and took that route instead.

I'm not sure if you mean just that Canada would accept an AHA card, which I think they would, or if you mean that our courses are run based on AHA stuff. As far as I understand, all courses will be based on the ILCOR standards but ACLS here will be certified by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (unless I am mistaken).

I didn't mean to suggest making six figures part time, but rather just doing that job part time now to supplement his income since that is what WANTYNU is asking about. Or, if everything you have told us his true (BA, MA student, past six figure salary) is there any way that you could turn this into a consulting opportunity? Why are you working on an MA if you are now considering things like selling on ebay to supplement your income? What is your MA in? What is your BA in?

If we don't have any here, you could check out Flight Web, I am fairly sure that they have some there (air though).

Scrubs in the summer and flight suit style in the winter? I just wanted to add some more thoughts on the subject of visibility. I mentioned before what I thought should go on the uniform shirt itself, but I also wanted to mention what I think might be a good substitute for the vest (if I were working for Dust he would just fire me... but I don't so I will keep discussing other options). Thames EMS in London, Ontario (I know we have at least one member who works for them, although not a frequent poster) has jackets that I think look very professional but are very visible. I haven't been able to find a pic, but basically it is a bright green/yellow with reflective and I believe it has the service name and "Paramedic" on the back. The jacket is something worth considering, because if we just end up wearing a dark jacket then again we might find ourselves looking like cops. Also, if we had a jacket like Thames EMS uses then that negates the need for a vest.

One other thing to look at besides the EMT course that you took is how you study. Tell us a little bit about what you do to prepare for the exam. If it involves just reading through the book again and again then there might be some work that can be done there. I have read much on this forum about how poorly worded NR tests can be, but even with that many people are able to play the game and pass. You're smart enough to ask for help when you need it, with some work you will also be smart enough to pass.