Advice for Hopeful Paramedic

[tryingtodecide]

Hi,

I live in Niagara, Ontario, Canada. I was just accepted to Niagara College's paramedic program (PCP)

I am trying to decide if this is right for me, but I have had little to no luck connecting with someone that will answer my questions.

HELP....

My first question is; Can this job be done if you have a chronic foot pain? (Plantar fasciitus). Please keep in mind it only hurts after extended periods of standing (3+ hours).Yes I can walk, climb stairs, lift things, but standing still in 1 spot causes me discomfort and pain.

Can you do the PCP schooling and immediately go to the advanced care paramedic schooling ? Or must you work before you go to the advanced care ?

Are 1st jobs hard to come by ? Someone told me it takes an average of 5 years before you even become permanent part time. Is this true ?

Is the Niagara region typically bad for jobs ?

What is the pay like ? I heard paramedics were not paid well given the risk and amount of work.....

IS there anyone who should not do this job ? Or can not do this job ?

Is anyone willing to chat with me via telephone or email ?

Thanks

[Emtpbill]

I don't see why your foot pain would hold you back, this job is 90% boredom, with 5% excitement and 5% terror. You should be fine.

If you want to do 911 you may have to put time in doing transports or something. Alot of places want experience.

[speedygodzilla]

No experience with you question regarding specifics about your area but I don't see your foot pain being too much of a problem. Going through class you'll have a chance to work in the field as a student so this should give you an idea of the physical demand.

Good luck!

[PCP]

Hi,

I live in Niagara, Ontario, Canada. I was just accepted to Niagara College's paramedic program (PCP)

I am trying to decide if this is right for me, but I have had little to no luck connecting with someone that will answer my questions.

HELP....

My first question is; Can this job be done if you have a chronic foot pain? (Plantar fasciitus). Please keep in mind it only hurts after extended periods of standing (3+ hours).Yes I can walk, climb stairs, lift things, but standing still in 1 spot causes me discomfort and pain.

Can you do the PCP schooling and immediately go to the advanced care paramedic schooling ? Or must you work before you go to the advanced care ?

Are 1st jobs hard to come by ? Someone told me it takes an average of 5 years before you even become permanent part time. Is this true ?

Is the Niagara region typically bad for jobs ?

What is the pay like ? I heard paramedics were not paid well given the risk and amount of work.....

IS there anyone who should not do this job ? Or can not do this job ?

Is anyone willing to chat with me via telephone or email ?

Thanks

I do not see your foot pain being a problem, as we are never standing for three hours at a time. There might be some people who should not be doing the job due to lacking personality. I feel anybody can do the job if they put their heart into the job and really care about helping people. I find a few people I have worked with or met have lost the drive for the job and may not do a proper assessment of a pt. and just want to load and go. This might be due to them being a paramedic for a long time and they are burnt out or like mentioned above have lost the drive for the job. If you are going to be in EMS I feel one needs to love the job, have passion for what they do, and really care about the patient. Always remember that we may not feel it is a emergency, but to them it is and that is why they call. A big part of our job is being able to talk with the pt. and have compassion. So yes there are some people that should not do the job, but everybody can do the job, just depends on how well they do the job!

It is true the pay is not the best, but it could be worse. Like mentioned above, most people get into EMS because they are interested in EMS and enjoy helping people and not for the money! Some of us have two jobs to make ends meet, so be prepared to work two jobs when you start.

Good luck!

[Celin Dion]

I don't see why your foot pain would hold you back, this job is 90% boredom, with 5% excitement and 5% terror. You should be fine.

If you want to do 911 you may have to put time in doing transports or something. Alot of places want experience.

__________________

watch online movies

[fakingpatience]

I don't see why your foot pain would hold you back, this job is 90% boredom, with 5% excitement and 5% terror. You should be fine.

If you want to do 911 you may have to put time in doing transports or something. Alot of places want experience.

__________________

watch online movies

Troll? Post copied from one earlier in the thread...

[Emtpbill]

Yep

Edited April 18, 2011 by Emtpbill

[BEorP]

Hi,

I live in Niagara, Ontario, Canada. I was just accepted to Niagara College's paramedic program (PCP)

I am trying to decide if this is right for me, but I have had little to no luck connecting with someone that will answer my questions.

HELP....

My first question is; Can this job be done if you have a chronic foot pain? (Plantar fasciitus). Please keep in mind it only hurts after extended periods of standing (3+ hours).Yes I can walk, climb stairs, lift things, but standing still in 1 spot causes me discomfort and pain.

Can you do the PCP schooling and immediately go to the advanced care paramedic schooling ? Or must you work before you go to the advanced care ?

Are 1st jobs hard to come by ? Someone told me it takes an average of 5 years before you even become permanent part time. Is this true ?

Is the Niagara region typically bad for jobs ?

What is the pay like ? I heard paramedics were not paid well given the risk and amount of work.....

IS there anyone who should not do this job ? Or can not do this job ?

Is anyone willing to chat with me via telephone or email ?

Thanks

Congratulations on your acceptance!

Looks like someone else has taken the foot pain question. We don't generally stand around for three hours so if standing still is the only thing that causes you problems you should be okay. I would check with your doctor as well, not just for piece of mind, but also because this Ability Works consulting company is doing lift tests for most Ontario EMS services now. If you don't pass their test, you don't get hired. I don't remember them asking any medical history questions, but before spending two years in school it would be good just to be sure you have your doctor on your side if you have any problems in the future. But no, probably not a big issue.

PCP can go right to ACP in some of the programs but it is very rare in Ontario. Unlike in the US where many people on a forum like this will say don't work as an EMT-B and go right back to EMT-P school, Ontario is a very different system. So no, not impossible to go right to ACP school but rare and could make it difficult to find work as an ACP.

All of Ontario is very difficult in terms of finding a job. Very, very difficult. When you get a job, you are correct that it could easily be five years before you get a permanent spot. And remember, this is for the lucky ones who get hired! Part time casual isn't terrible. I mean, it is a job and it pays well. But remember that you'll be working when no one else wants to and largely based on late call ins. You might not know you're working tomorrow until 9pm tonight when someone calls in sick. And you will work most weekends, a lot in the summer, and then not a lot over the winter. It can be quite difficult to try to schedule life around this. Also, your shifts may have no consistency, which can make the shift work more challenging.

The pay is something where Ontario is very distinct from our American friends. The pay in Ontario for paramedics is very good. You can expect to make somewhere in the $30-$35 an hour range as a PCP and slightly more as an ACP.

Is there anyone who should not or cannot do the job? That is a tough one and open to debate. I think that most intelligent and physically capable people can learn to do the job if they want to. I mean, there are skills like scene control that you will need to learn, but I think most people are capable of this with practice.

The job is incredible. Keep in mind though that paramedics (at least in Ontario) do not usually last to retire at 65 and many get out after 5-7 years for various reasons. Given this, and the job market, you must have a plan of an alternate career if you are looking to become a paramedic in Ontario right now. You might need it while waiting for a job, or after you can't do the job anymore, but you'll need it at some point.

PM me or post in this thread if you have further questions and I'll do my best to answer them.