BC Ambulance Service

M

med9911

Forum Probie
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Interesting while reading some of these threads that there is a lack of employment opportunities for Paramedics. I work in Vancouver, British Columbia and we have a SHORTAGE of qualified Advance Care Paramedics (EMT-P) in the Vancouver area. Good pay, endless amount of overtime, Unionized environment and government run. It's the Pacific Northwest so our climate is equivalent to Seattle/Oregon. Web site is bcas.ca
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have been thinking of heading out west for a bit now. My wife does not like the idea of moving though. I was in Vancouver like 8 or 9 years ago for the St, John Ambulance national first aid competations. I loved the city and would love to live there. I am sure the pay is much better than on the eastern side of Canada where I am.
 
Medic Tim said:
I have been thinking of heading out west for a bit now. My wife does not like the idea of moving though. I was in Vancouver like 8 or 9 years ago for the St, John Ambulance national first aid competations. I loved the city and would love to live there. I am sure the pay is much better than on the eastern side of Canada where I am.
Click to expand...
They just hired 6 new Paramedics from Ontario and Alberta. Paid their moving expenses as long as they signed up for three years. 12 hour shifts. Two days, two nights and then four days off. It's a targeted system so Advance life support only responds to potential advance life support calls layered with a Primary Care Paramedic ambulance. If it ends up being not ALS related then the Primary Care Paramedic ambulance treats and transports. Be warned though, all the ambulances are run off our feet in the Vancouver area but as you gain seniority you can transfer to different parts of the Province (State for the Americans on this site) where it can be slower or Critical Care Transport.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Posted in another thread and moved to here:
Awsome Doc thank for posting it. To my friend from B.C I am a PCP working in new brunswick taking my ACP in the states currently, and was considering a move to the western shore. Any tips or specifics as to who I should contact? I was in kelowna in my youth but would prefer to be more costal this time around. What is the hiring prosses and are American medics taken as ACP? I assume there are some extra hoops that would require jumping through. I will be lisenced as ACP in N.B so if the always irregular interprovincial agreements actually work it should not be a huge issue. (but we know there is a good chance it wont)
Click to expand...
I believe anyone licensed from out of British Columbia needs to take a jurisprudence exam through the Provincial licensing body as each Scope of practice is different in each Country and Province.
Like I said, we just hired advance care paramedics from Ontario and Alberta. I will ask our HR department today about if your licensed in the states and want to work in Canada.
 
If I were you, that's definately what I would do. Give me a heads up before you come. Always good to know someone whenever you come to a new job.
 
How is the situation now? I am a paramedic in one of the large cities in the Netherlands and I've been planning to move to Vancouver for some time now. At this time I would like to start making my first moves. However I do have so many questions left, to which I cannot find closing answers on the internet. Can anyone help?
 
For example: we are a nurse-based system, meaning that an RN with critical care or ED-experience gets trained in one year to become an ambulance nurse. We provide protocolized ALS, similar to the skill set that I saw on the website of the BC licensing body for paramedics.
I am wondering what the odds are that my qualifications will be recognized at an ACP-level?
 
You'll have to contact the Emergency Health Assistants Licensing Board about the process to get your training recognized. It won't be as straightforward as transferring a license from one Canadian province to another, but it certainly can be done.

http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/ema/get-licence/outside-of-canada.html

As for ACP jobs in BC Ambulance, they are pretty much full. Due to union rules, there is essentially no chance of someone being hired into an ACP spot as an external applicant at the moment. We are of course hiring Primary Care Paramedics, which would mean working in a rural area "on-call" or "stand-by" for at least 6 months. Once you've completed your probation period as a PCP, you would be eligible to apply for ACP job postings as a internal applicant.
 
thanks for your reply cprtd. I've been looking at the official websites for some time, but it would help tremendously if any european medic can share their experience with the process.
What is the expectation for ACP-jobs for the coming years, as I am hoping to have everything ready to emigrate in about 2 years? On the web I can see that there seems to be a ACP shortage that would last for another 5 years or so, but is it also the reality on the workfloor, and does it mean that foreign paramedics will be hired in the near future? Are there any Dutch EMS providers at all that now work in BC?
I also considered going through the registration process for RN's, but that seems to be much more expensive, time consuming...plus, I wouldn't like to exchange EMS for the hospital...
 
Anyone who can say something about how the demand for ACP's will develop in the years to come in BC?
 
The "we're short on ACPs for 5 years" hiring forecast has been revised. They based that analysis on the ability of the JIBC to produce new ACPs without taking into account external hiring or BCAS employees who went to other schools for their training. So at the moment, the standing vacancies have been filled and BCAS is now hiring based on attrition.

What does the future hold? Nobody knows. I think there are some big changes coming down the pipes for BC Ambulance and no one--least of all me--really knows what the service is going to look like 5 years from now. In terms of ACP hiring, there is a Community Paramedic program in the works that is supposed to have 80 FTE positions ... no one can say what the PCP/ACP breakdown of those jobs are going to be. If 30/80 end up as ACP positions, that'll open things up again. Also, the Coroners Service has hit BCAS a few times recently over the lack of ACP coverage ... so that could result in the creation of new ACP resources ... really hard to say how it all will shake out ...
 
that's valuable info :) now as an insider, unable to predict, but knowing your organization...would you say it makes sense for a foreign trained paramedic to go through the whole process and try...or is the chance of eventually getting employed fulltime very low?
 
Once you have a BC license, the fact that your foreign trained isn't a big deal. You'd be on the same footing as any other external applicant. Whether we'll go back to a place where we need to hire externals directly into ACP residency/mentoring ... its really hard to say. If you're interested specifically in BC, there are well paying jobs for ACP in the oil and gas sector.
 
I am an industrial ACP in BC and Alberta. We are on the same pay band as RNs. In the winter months you can walk into a job no problem. Summer can be hit and miss but you can get into a full time position pretty easily in a medical clinic. Even though it can be clinic based, you also do emergency response.
 
That's good news. How is the job security in Canada? Do you have a job on a day to day basis, or do you get a year-contract or longer?
I've also been looking at the registration process for RN's, but that is much more expensive and compicated. I'll be happy to stay in EMS.
 
I have been doing this full time for about 2 years now. Work is contract and you may be classified a casual employee. I work 2 weeks on 2 weeks off. All my expenses and travel are paid so everything I make goes right into the bank. If your site contract ends you may miss a pay or 2 but I work for a big company that has lots of contracts. It doesn't take long to be offered I started doing vacation relief and docking up short term contracts. I got into a Long term clinics very quickly. A lot I people don't like industrial work and look down on industrial providers. That said many if these people are not ALS and think it is all the same. The ALS providers out here are treated like gold and actually see and treat pts. I have worked with BLS partners who don't get a chance to work in clinics often and they might see 10-15 pts in a year.
 
Last edited:
Do you consider the industrial work dangerous and are you exposed to gases, fumes and other health risks during your work?
 
There is risk out here. More so for the workers and rescue teams than the clinic staff. You will have training for site specific and general hazards and whatnot. Every site I have been on has had firefighters or emergency response rescue teams who receive special training. Some medic companies do rescue as well but where I currently am I am single function medical . We respond to emergencies with the other teams but are in a staging area where they bring the pts to us.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top