alberta jobs

[fortsmithman]

I'm currently a member of a volunteer ambulance service. My title is student on board. My service will be training me and other students on bosrd to the EMR level. I plan on being an emr for about a year before going to an EMTA course. Because in Alberta you have to be an EMR before you can attend the EMT A course and you have to be an EMT A to attend the EMT P course.

[tniuqs]

I'm currently a member of a volunteer ambulance service. My title is student on board. My service will be training me and other students on bosrd to the EMR level. I plan on being an emr for about a year before going to an EMTA course. Because in Alberta you have to be an EMR before you can attend the EMT A course and you have to be an EMT A to attend the EMT P course.

Greetings and welcome to the Canadian Forums Fort Smith Man !

Soo, are you from Ft. Smith or are you in Ft. Smith ? (as most international lurkers will not be aware that Ft.Smith is in the NWT. and great fishing !)

Great to have someone in the "know" up there, I am aware that in YZF the Fire Department has trained thier guys/gals up to the PCP/EMT A level, whoo hoo ! I had the sincere privilege of meeting and enjoying a few beverages with some of the crew last summer, great bunch of nut bars and lots of fun!

Are you just using the Alberta Advantage and the abundance of schools available down south to further ALL Ambulance operations for the NWT ? Or have you lowered your standards and relocated ? te he.

I certainly hope the NWT government will legislate standards and title protection very soon, as most communities and industry self impose the Alberta model, and honestly this is the first step required for the NWT for a variety of reasons to advance care and put all those with "dubious credentials" where they belong back as the camp cook/ campy. A FA ticket from wherever (just based on the distances/ logistics alone) is completely unacceptable for modern EMS delivery of care wherever you are, just why should NWT citizens recieve less ?

And can someone PLEASE explain to me why anyone believes that as a EMR needs any road time before continuing up the food chain? I really dont understand, really ?

The only reason that I can fathom is the time and expense assosciated with the upgrade as a volunteer ??? In such an enviroment, I would tend to think that the skill set and scope of practice would sure help out one's community a one hell of a LOT more, as when one gets a MCI "its all hands on deck" and get put to work asap in most ER's or Nursing Stations.

cheers

[fortsmithman]

The EMR's and the EMT-A's and the paramedic in the Fort Smith Volunteer Ambulance Service all all registered with the Alberta College of Paramedics. The EMR course that the service will be offering is actually from NAIT. The reason why I'm going to wait one or two years is because the service ill cover the EMR course but not the EMT-A course. That one will be at my expense. I will take it and return to Fort Smith.

[tniuqs]

The EMR's and the EMT-A's and the paramedic in the Fort Smith Volunteer Ambulance Service all all registered with the Alberta College of Paramedics. The EMR course that the service will be offering is actually from NAIT. The reason why I'm going to wait one or two years is because the service ill cover the EMR course but not the EMT-A course. That one will be at my expense. I will take it and return to Fort Smith.

Thats good to hear there fortsmithman so its a cash flow issue I gather. it always boils down to that,but if your a resident and there is no school up there you may be able to apply for a bursary or grant from the NWT government ? .... just thinking out loud here.

The NWT really should establish there own registry with the levels defined by Alberta and title protection IMHO ... I am positive that ACoP would share all the already established standards, maybe contact the Paramedics of Canada to give you guys/gals some help with set up support, as they are wizards at lobbying.

A Remote or Wilderness EMT program would a very applicable for the NWT, but ACoP has not accepted that concept like EMTs/ Paramedics are not already working in those enviroments right now, like ski patrols, backcountry guides, oilfield +++ !!!! ..... sheesh don't get me started. :twisted:

If you are supporting ground for a medivac out and you see a big, alright "portly" Paramedic called Troy. He is the man, so give him a big kiss from squinty :roll: :oops: I will garuntee you will get a good chuckle out of him, he is one hilarious guy.

PM me when your headed down, maybe, I can help you out in some way :?:

cheers

[fortsmithman]

I met a Troy H who's a flight paramedic with air ambulance is that the Troy you're talking about. I also met Marc who's a flight nurse with the air ambulance.

[tniuqs]

I met a Troy H who's a flight paramedic with air ambulance is that the Troy you're talking about. I also met Marc who's a flight nurse with the air ambulance.

Thats da Man!

And one funny fellow when he does't have his game face on.

I so miss flying.

cheers

[emtnerd]

My Dad has been working in the patch since Moses was in short pants. My bro is a MWD...at some point or another various other family members have ventured into the patch...Had I not had a hubby and kids to care for, going to work in industrial EMS would have been a natural choice.

[Siffaliss]

As for NS ACP's, they are ACoP licenced.

My 2 cents your mileage may vary.

Sleep

[fortsmithman]

As for NS ACP's, they are ACoP licenced.

My 2 cents your mileage may vary.

Sleep

Everyone must be eligible to take and then of course, pass, the exam of their respective discipline. Nobody is simply 'handed' registration here. Unfortunately there are people at every level who shouldn't be at ANY level.

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As for oilfield EMR's, have you seen some of the people working up there? There are 18 year old bimbos who do nothing but flirt, some of which aren't even EMR's. They may have taken the course however don't want to take the exam. They run around misrepresenting themselves as EMR's, when it is common knowledge that one must be registered at their respective level in order to call themselves by that respective title.

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye ... literally. Try putting some of these 'ladies of the patch' into a really serious situation, or even a broken arm for that matter. Then try and give one of them advice on a discussed topic or a question they've asked ... all you get is attitude and "I'm almost an EMR so I know everything thank you".

As an EMT who has spent 99% of my EMS time in emerg (a.k.a. real EMS) and the other 1% in the patch, it scares me to see what's up there. Granted, there are many true professionals in every area. The rules for 'up north' however are much too lax, and unfortunately many people who go to work (party) up there, give those of us who are simply there for the work and money a bad rap we have to dispose of.

[Siffaliss]

Well, the way I took that person's post was that all Nova Scotia ACP's are automatically licensed here as EMT-P's ... which of course is NOT the case, I might have been making a poor assumption as to how the post was meant to read.

ACP's from that province or any other province for that matter cannot just come to Alberta and say "hey, give me a 50# so I can be a paramedic here too". Their education is reviewed for reciprocity, and if approved they may challenge the exam here.

As for doing your EMR then ACP then oilfield then EMT well that's great, but why don't you try getting some real ambulance experience in between as well?

If you do end up in the patch, you will certainly see that there are many people misrepresenting themselves as EMR's, sometimes even EMT's. I will give two examples and tell you why this bothers me.

For instance, I did a couple weeks up north early this year in between full time emerg jobs. There was a 19 year old bimbo up there who told everyone she was an EMR. When I asked her what her reg # was, she told me she couldn't remember. Ok fine, we can look it up online if I needed to put it in a PCR. I asked her when she wrote the ACoP exam, she said she hadn't yet. Okayyyyyyyyyyy .... so I asked why she was calling herself an EMR to which she replied, "Well they gave me this temp number so I'm an EMR".

Upon completion of an ACoP recognized course in Alberta, one can apply for temporary registration at that level. What that temp # allows that person to do is practice at that level ONLY IF they have the approval of the medical director for the service they are working in, and ONLY IF they are DIRECTLY SUPERVISED by someone of equal or greater PERMANENT registration. They have a certain amount of time to write the exam, if they go over that time the temp # is revoked and cannot be re-obtained. Same goes for if they fail the exam, they cannot reapply for temporary registration.

So this little girl kept telling me I was wrong and that she knew what the temp # meant and that she was an EMR. I went to the ACoP website and printed out the information for her and told her that if she would have read the letter she got from ACoP, this is what she would have found. I also told her that if myself or another one of the EMT's or the paramedic, or even one of the EMR's told her she couldn't do something at the EMR level for whatever reason it was, by law she had to stand back. She made a smartass little comment and stomped away, didn't talk to me for three days which was just fine by me because I really didn't care for talking to her anyhow.

The second example I mentioned is a guy from BC who came out to the site I was on. He also misrepresented himself as an EMR "because he took his program at the Justice Institute of BC and that ACP was going to be forced to recognize it within 18 months" and blah blah blah blah blah. I said ok fine if that's the case, however you still don't have an Alberta registration number therefore you are not an EMR in this province. He constantly argued over that, said he didn't care what anyone thought or said, he was an EMR. Didn't even believe me when I said that he could be prosecuted over that and would then never be allowed to register in Alberta. He carried his little box of some symptomatic relief drugs like Benadryl, Tylenlol, Advil, Pepto-Bismol, etc etc, things like that which he stated that BC EMR's were allowed to give out. I didn't care to research that #1 because I don't really care, and #2 because EMR's here cannot administer those meds. I simply told him that if I found out he was doing anything outside the scope of an advanced first aider, I would report him.

My reg # is my livelihood, and I will not have it risked because some moron has a chip on his shoulder about having to take an exam in order to practice at their level here. I plan on having a long and productive career doing emerg in EMS. Now here comes a run-on sentence because I'm actually saying this while I type it ... If everyone who is registered at one of the three levels here in Alberta has to go through the gears and jump through the hoops and pay the money and take the exam and wait for results etc etc, what makes anyone else think they shouldn't have to? If that is what is required to work in the province of Alberta and you want to work here, then just shut up and do it. Seriously. We hear enough complaining at work.

There may be better ways out there of doing things than how ACoP is functioning. For now however, that is the way things are and that is what we must do. If everyone who had a good idea brought it forward to ACoP instead of just bitching behind the scenes, perhaps more effective changes could be brought about.

That's all I have to say about that ... (said in a Forrest Gump voice)