EMT-P training in Alberta, Canada

McFly

McFly

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Hey all you fabulous people! :P

Some of you might have seen that my wife and I are in the process of emigrating to Canada. We're hoping to land there in about 18 months from now if all goes well.

My plans are to study to become a paramedic in Calgary, and I've so far singled out SAIT Polytechnic as the place to do it at. I know that the entrance requirements are quite hectic at this institution, so I was wondering if any of you here have gone through this school, how you found the course and the people, and if you can recommend them (or any other school for that matter).

If my research is correct, I'd need to follow the following route to reach my dream (these are all Canadian courses, and listed in the order that I'd need to take them):

- CPR Level C with AED Certification
- Standard First Aid with CPR/AED Certification
- EMRG-201 Emergency Medical Responder at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary
- Emergency Medical Technician at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary
- Emergency Medical Technology - Paramedic at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary

I've had a look at the curriculum for the latter two courses, and holy hell it's intense! :wacko: Anybody perhaps got an AED floating around, I feel a heart attack coming on? B)
 
I live in Manitoba and did my EMR throught SAITand did my Fire Training in Vermillion, Alberta with Fire Etc. Our system in Winnipeg states that ALL FireFighters and Paramedics must be BOTH PCP and NFPA 1001 & 1002 certified before hiring....crazy....

Anyway, SAIT has a good name, I believe Calgary just requires PCP certification (I could be wrong) - be careful the city has a reputation for the "cowboy syndrome" ....highest rate of cricothyroidotomies in the country!

Go Flames Go!
 
jk-firemedic said:
....highest rate of cricothyroidotomies in the country!
Click to expand...

Hey there!

Why would cricothyroidotomies be common in Calgary? Do people get kicked in the throat by horses quite often? :P
 
I'm a PCP from Saskatchewan. I moved to British Columbia and am now a PCP-IV. What I can tell you is this: don't move to Calgary or Alberta. They don't pay what their EMS is worth. No province does, but Alberta pays half what the rest of the country does. I start at about $20/hr and Alberta pays about $11.

Also, Alberta isn't too great to live in. I just don't understand what people like about it; it's cold and dirty. BC is the most beautiful province to live in in the entire world.

Back to your queries: you do your 1st Aid and CPR as a pre-req to your PCP (college certified course, so you need to have everything in order like you would to apply to any college/university). You can't go onto the ACP until after one year or 1000 calls. There really are no EMT levels in Canada anymore.

Move to BC and study at the JI. You'll be happier. No winter on the coast or Vancouver Island.
 
OK - I'm with you on the whole Alberta thing. I still can''t figure out why so many people are moving there. Yeah, it's nice but...

In Winnipeg the Paramedic service just received a well-deserved 9% pay increase and are fighting for more. However, I cannot complain too much because I am a Firemedic which means that I fall under the jurisdiction of the FIre Department, not the Paramedic Department. Politics....politics....

What I wanted to say is that in most rural areas of Manitoba, all you need is your EMT/EMR level to start working. I think many other provinces are the same (don't quote me - I'm not too sure). However, to get into a large urban area you need your PCP.

Cheers!
 
You are correct. BC is a unionized service opped by the Gov't, unlike many other provinces (SK, being private, for one) and they have a lot of EMRs in force. Obviously, more PCPs are required (and BADLY!) but BC just doesn't have them, so EMRs are being utilized in rural locations.

That's called, making the best of a bad situation. But only PCPs and ACPs can transfer into larger centers. I'm working in a small service now, staffed mostly by EMRs, and earning pager wage between calls, but I will transfer when my 6 months are up, and go to a bigger city. I'm working in a small town of about 1500 people up in the mountains right now and I don't get many calls. Not like I would in Nanaimo or Victoria.
 
TKO said:
I'm a PCP from Saskatchewan. I moved to British Columbia and am now a PCP-IV. What I can tell you is this: don't move to Calgary or Alberta. They don't pay what their EMS is worth. No province does, but Alberta pays half what the rest of the country does. I start at about $20/hr and Alberta pays about $11.

Also, Alberta isn't too great to live in. I just don't understand what people like about it; it's cold and dirty. BC is the most beautiful province to live in in the entire world.

Back to your queries: you do your 1st Aid and CPR as a pre-req to your PCP (college certified course, so you need to have everything in order like you would to apply to any college/university). You can't go onto the ACP until after one year or 1000 calls. There really are no EMT levels in Canada anymore.

Move to BC and study at the JI. You'll be happier. No winter on the coast or Vancouver Island.
Click to expand...


I don't know what your talking about.... 11 $ a day? maybe in the interhospital transfer service as an EMR and ... MAYBE EMT.... I'm in the process of taking my EMT right now (equivilant of american EMT-I) and with the city of edmonton, pay starts at 20$ an hour as an EMT on an ALS car with a paramedic... with experience you can net 25$ an hour... with 2 10 hour shifts and 2 14 hour shifts, thats not bad overtime, its a decent wage for an EMT. As a paramedic working in the city? christe you are making about 70-80 g's a year. There is *NOTHING* wrong with that. I don't know who you are talking to in regards to calgary and edmonton EMS pay scales, maybe they paid 11$ 15 years ago... but they are crying for people right now because industrial side is sucking away all the medics.

As for alberta not paying its EMS enough? If you go industrial medic as a paramedic, you net about 700-800$ a *DAY* , that works out to 21,000$ a month if you work 30 days straight which is very very easy to do in our economy. EMT's on the industrial side of things net about 325$ a day, which is still frikken awsome for sitting on your butt all day if thats what your into...



and in regards to the guy talking about calgary having the highest chric's in all of canada, thats because of their medical director's policy. Under his protocol an ALS medic is allowed 2 attempts at intubation and then skips straight to a chric incision (sp?) so yeah... thats why they had 65 chrich's last year. dammit I know i'm spelling that wrong lol, oh well.



B.C. for the longest time was the dumbest EMS province in the country, if you wanted to get into the profession, you had to volunteer until they finally hired and trained you at the only training facility for EMS in all of b.c. (the justice institute) and once you were an EMT-A you could spend your *ENTIRE* career without ever getting nominated to become a paramedic (can you say politics and cock gobbling?) At least in Alberta, if *YOU* are motivated enough to become a paramedic, there is no political heirarchy holding you back. Not to mention like you said you are required a certain number of calls before you are even ELLIGIBLE for higher training.... note the elligible, not guarenteed. I mean hell, for the longest time B.C. didn't even acknowledge any other province's certification at the paramedic level from anywhere across the country. A little counter productive if you ask me, consider also how (in my opinion) there are other provinces that train to a higher standard than b.c. (alberta for example)





Also to the original poster, I hear nait and sait are ok.... I am currently however taking my schooling at the Canadian College of Emergency Medical Services here in Edmonton. It is a *FANTASTIC* school, absolutely amazing, they prepare you very well, it is a private funded school so the entrance requirements aren't quite as anal retentive, and when it comes to provincial exams CCEMS (my school) always falls usually within the top 3 highest scores in the province.
 
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A friend of mine was working in Lloyminster for $11/hr until very recently where he left the Alta service to go back to a SK service.

All of your points on BC *were* true and I had a helluva time transferring from SK to BC. But that has changed within the last few years. The difficulty coming into BC that I experienced is that BC PCP standards are higher than anywhere else, only in-line with Alberta. The whole PCP standard was supposed to be a national standard regulated federally, and it is, except that provinces like British Columbia went further and now paramedics coming in have to get more training to be competent with BC's standards (basically, pharmacological and spinal rolls).

But regardless of every provinces problems with beauracracy, my job is what I am not where I live. I have sunshine year round; didn't you guys just get snow yesterday? :D
 
Best to take any EMS training at a school with CMA accreditation, with the highest being six years. Chances of being able to move around within the country are much higher, as the CMA sets national standards. Some schools have it, some don't and have been trying for years, prolly never will have it.

As for snow, shove(l) it :D
 
...whoopsie...
The school where I took my EMT-A training is also a private school, is VERY anal about entrance requirements, and has 6 year accreditation for both EMT-A and EMT-P programs that it offers.

As some may know, our regulatory body is the Alberta College of Paramedics. Without ACP registration, one cannot practice EMS in Alberta. For those who are interested, information on which schools here have ACP approval and CMA accreditation (and to what degree if any) can be obtained at:

http://www.collegeofparamedics.org/
(Click on "registration", scroll down to "approved programs list". Clicking that opens a PDF ...)

A paramedic working for the City of Edmonton MIGHT make $70G-$80G with a ton of OT (yes there has been a lot lately). There are no current postings for Edmonton right now as they just have a class of new EMT-A and EMT-P recruits starting on Monday. Calgary however has this as per their website today:
----------
Job Information
Posting Title: Emergency Medical Technician - Ambulance/Paramedic
Business Unit/Division: Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Union/Position: CUPE Local 3421/ LIMITED TERM (up to one year) and On-Call
Compensation: Emergency Medical Technician, Ambulance
$21.96 - 22.85 - 23.74 - 24.63 - 25.22 - 26.11 - 26.70 per hour (under review)
Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic
$23.74 - 24.92 - 26.11 - 27.30 - 28.48 - 29.67 - 30.26 per hour (under review)
----------

Unless you are sitting on your butt doing nothing in the oilpatch the money in EMS isn't that hot. Most of us however, don't do it for the money ...

As for snow, shove(l) it :D Puhleeeeez no more of the white stuff
 
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McFly said:
Hey all you fabulous people! :P

Some of you might have seen that my wife and I are in the process of emigrating to Canada. We're hoping to land there in about 18 months from now if all goes well.

My plans are to study to become a paramedic in Calgary, and I've so far singled out SAIT Polytechnic as the place to do it at. I know that the entrance requirements are quite hectic at this institution, so I was wondering if any of you here have gone through this school, how you found the course and the people, and if you can recommend them (or any other school for that matter).

If my research is correct, I'd need to follow the following route to reach my dream (these are all Canadian courses, and listed in the order that I'd need to take them):

- CPR Level C with AED Certification
- Standard First Aid with CPR/AED Certification
- EMRG-201 Emergency Medical Responder at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary
- Emergency Medical Technician at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary
- Emergency Medical Technology - Paramedic at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary

I've had a look at the curriculum for the latter two courses, and holy hell it's intense! :wacko: Anybody perhaps got an AED floating around, I feel a heart attack coming on? B)
Click to expand...

Try Professional Medical Associates ... They offer all of the required programs right from your CPR-C and Standard F/A, all the way up to your EMT-P.
 
TKO said:
I'm a PCP from Saskatchewan. I moved to British Columbia and am now a PCP-IV. What I can tell you is this: don't move to Calgary or Alberta. They don't pay what their EMS is worth. No province does, but Alberta pays half what the rest of the country does. I start at about $20/hr and Alberta pays about $11.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me, I make $15 an hour as a brand new EMR (not even EMT) at a rural station with an annual call volume of ~200 - and in my interview, they stated at least twice that their wages are "below average but under review." I'm pretty happy with getting a minimum of $170 per day for studying for my EMT course and surfing the net - it's the best-paid job I've had to date, AND I hardly do anything.
 
TKO said:
I'm a PCP from Saskatchewan. I moved to British Columbia and am now a PCP-IV. What I can tell you is this: don't move to Calgary or Alberta. They don't pay what their EMS is worth. No province does, but Alberta pays half what the rest of the country does. I start at about $20/hr and Alberta pays about $11.

Also, Alberta isn't too great to live in. I just don't understand what people like about it; it's cold and dirty. BC is the most beautiful province to live in in the entire world.

Back to your queries: you do your 1st Aid and CPR as a pre-req to your PCP (college certified course, so you need to have everything in order like you would to apply to any college/university). You can't go onto the ACP until after one year or 1000 calls. There really are no EMT levels in Canada anymore.

Move to BC and study at the JI. You'll be happier. No winter on the coast or Vancouver Island.
Click to expand...


??? I work for Edmonton EMS, and I make $29.57hr as an EMT. I will be making $30+ come Jan/09. And yes there is still is "levels". EMR,EMT, and EMT-P (Paramedic).

http://www.collegeofparamedics.org/pages/home/default.aspx

http://www.collegeofparamedics.org/pages/Practitioner_Resources/Scopeofpractice.aspx
 
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McFly said:
Some of you might have seen that my wife and I are in the process of emigrating to Canada. We're hoping to land there in about 18 months from now if all goes well.
Click to expand...

That is one long *** flight.
 
The reason there are so many Crich's in Alberta is because there Paramedics can't hit there intubations! :P Lol I wish we had that protcol in Sask!!
 
Medicine Hat College offers a 4 yr BSc degree in allied health I believe that will let you after graduating take the ACoP EMT-P exam without obtaining the EMR and EMT designations.
 
fortsmithman said:
Medicine Hat College offers a 4 yr BSc degree in allied health I believe that will let you after graduating take the ACoP EMT-P exam without obtaining the EMR and EMT designations.
Click to expand...

Yes... its known as a "Zero to hero" program and it has very little respect in the field. I personally know a few grads from the program and they feel they are not as well prepared as other EMT-P's. It takes you from Standard First Aid to full blown EMT-P in 4 years.

You have no time to practice and become confident enough in your skills at a BLS level before you move on to ALS skills. Most medic schools require, as a minimum, one year of experience working at the BLS level before they will even consider your application.

The best medic schools in Alberta - NAIT, SAIT and PMA, hands down.
 
Canadian_EMT said:
The reason there are so many Crich's in Alberta is because there Paramedics can't hit there intubations!
Click to expand...

Its not so much a problem of missing intubations... Thats an issue thats facing ALS providers all over.

We just have some medical directors that don't believe in non-visualized intubation. They are all about having a definitive airway in place and a combi-tube or an LMA just doesn't cut it in their minds so its straight to crics after 2 failed attempts.
 
Personally I'm thinking about taking my EMT at Portage College in Lac La Biche. I'm not sure if I want to take EMT-P, but if I do I'm thinking NAIT because I have friends and relatives there.
 
TKO said:
I'm a PCP from Saskatchewan. I moved to British Columbia and am now a PCP-IV. What I can tell you is this: don't move to Calgary or Alberta. They don't pay what their EMS is worth. No province does, but Alberta pays half what the rest of the country does. I start at about $20/hr and Alberta pays about $11.

Also, Alberta isn't too great to live in. I just don't understand what people like about it; it's cold and dirty. BC is the most beautiful province to live in in the entire world.

Back to your queries: you do your 1st Aid and CPR as a pre-req to your PCP (college certified course, so you need to have everything in order like you would to apply to any college/university). You can't go onto the ACP until after one year or 1000 calls. There really are no EMT levels in Canada anymore.

Move to BC and study at the JI. You'll be happier. No winter on the coast or Vancouver Island.
Click to expand...
All CMA accredited EMT courses in Alberta are also CMA Accredited as PCP programs. Also rural Alberta especially near the mountains is some of the most beautiful country you will ever see. Northern Alberta is especially nice to see.
 
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