# canadian vs. american



## bled12345 (Mar 6, 2007)

so I live in edmonton alberta, I'm taking my EMR course right now, its a 2 week course at the school I'm attending. Some schools its 3 weeks full time, and others its 6-8 part time.

The breakdown in alberta for the different levels is

EMR
EMT
EMT-P

EMR certifies you to work in rural towns, or on an ambulance, or as an industrial medic, it goes over a fair amount of anatomy and trauma care, but does not provide you with the adequate skills to get seriously hands on. its about a 900$ canadian (750 american)

EMT is a 6-9 month program, with 3 practicums, one in the hospital, one in the ER, and one on a truck.  It certifies you to work on a BLS rig, or an ALS rig provided you are working with a medic. Its about 5600$ canadian (4800 american)

EMT-P  the paramedic course is a 2 year diploma program, and certifies you to work on ALS, do tracheal airway insertions and stuff like that.... This one is over 10,000$ canadian, so like 8700$ american.

also, you get paid nothing while doing your practicum.  


So I'm just curious how it works in the states? and what the different levels of school are, the costs, the practicums, and the levels of certification? How different is it? are there any government subsidies regarding your tuition considering the area of work you are going into? Are medics in the states well compensated for their level of knowledge and competence in the field?


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## Megs_h13 (Mar 7, 2007)

what you have to remember to is that it veries from provience to provience. in saskatchewan we go:

EMT
EMT-A
Paramedic

EMT is a 6 month course with two praticums, one in the er, and one on the rig. it cost $3,000.00 (not sure what that is in american). the course covers everything from cardiac to trauma, also includes injections and i.v's (even though we don't do them)

EMT-A is a 3 month course only on weekends with two practicums, same as EMT. it cost $2,000.00. the course covers the five drugs an EMT-A is able to give and a bit more on anatomy. 

Paramedic is a 2 year course with many practicums throughout the course. it cost $10,000.00 the catch is you have to be a working EMT or EMT-A for at least two years before you can apply for the course.

now a saskatchewan EMT can challenge any provience's EMT exam to be licensed in that provience as an EMT or we stay what you guys call an EMR.


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## YYCmedic (Mar 8, 2007)

So does taking your EMT in Saskatchewan give you the equivalent of a CMA level PCP?


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## Sera (Mar 9, 2007)

Megs_h13 said:


> what you have to remember to is that it veries from provience to provience. in saskatchewan we go:
> 
> EMT
> EMT-A
> ...




hrmm things have changed quite a bit.. i just finished taking the "EMT" course (which is actually now called PCP-primary care paramedic here in saskatchewan.. i have 3 more days left in my practicum training)

PCP- primary care paramedic, about a 5month course $1843CA (not including books), everything else you mentioned is the same

ICP- intermidiate care paramedic (formally known as EMT-A) 21 weeks  $1995 CA
You can go straight into this after your PCP without any working experience. Clinical (in hospital) and field (in ambulance) practicums - minimum of 342 hours with a qualified preceptor.
you can admin IVs and a few other meds, also use manual defib

ACP- advanced care paramedic- 2 years, you can work as a PCP for one year and you're good to go (although it's recommended that you have more experience than that). everything else you mentioned is pretty much the same

more info check out: http://www.siast.sk.ca/siast/educationtraining/appliedcertificate/healthapplied/pcparamedic.htm


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## burntbob (Mar 9, 2007)

*Ontario*

Ontario Primary Care Paramedic ( PCP) is a two year program at a community college, not sure of the current rates. You still have to  write the provincial AEMCA Exam to practice.
Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP)  is another year on top of that. 

the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa 
http://www.ottawaparamedics.ca/index.asp has some good pages describing the different levels of certfication and how to become  a paramedic.

so does
Ontario Paramedic Association
http://www.ontarioparamedic.ca/becoming_a_paramedic.html

The Ontario Ministry of Health  has info on getting provincial certification  and what you need to do if you are trained elsewhere, 
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/program/ehs/edu/edu_mn.html


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## Mercy4Angels (Mar 11, 2007)

thats frekin nuts....in new jersey its either

EMT-B   3 month program totalling 110 hours. 10 of those in an ER. $500 usd
            paid for by the volunteer bls unit you work for.

EMT-P    2 year program with hospital, ER and truck time. sponsored by a 
            hospital.


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## bled12345 (Mar 11, 2007)

doh... ouch, turns out I fubar'd the cost of the EMT-P course...

the average in alberta is..... *drum roll*  18000-19000 $

no wonder they are in such high demand


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## Recycled Words (Mar 12, 2007)

In New Jersey we have EMT-B and EMT-P.

My BLS program ran for 5 months during evenings totalling 120 hours. ALS programs run for 2 years.

I'm not sure about pricing for ALS programs, but the BLS program is free for volunteers. The NJ Training Fund covers it


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