EMS in Canada?

Hi! I am a new medic in New Brunswick and have just recieved my license through PANB. I went to school at Medavie HealthEd which covers both NB and NS protocols and policies. Here is a link to the full clinical policy profile in NS:

novascotia.ca/dhw/ehs/clinical-program-documents.asp

I don't know much about systems in the rest of the country, but i do know how things work here out east! I will try to help as much as possible
 
Are there any Nova Scotia medics here who can tell about working in EMS in this province?
 
Medic Tim said:
I work in the oil fields. 2 weeks on 2 weeks off. Make a great salary... Even for canada. I love my time off and not killing myself working ot. My company covers flights and expenses. We have a few Medics who live in the USA.... My wife and I are considering moving down to the states in a few years
No idea what a regional nomination is.
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Hello Medic Tim,

I accidentally came across this forum when I was looking for a few difficult answers to help me make a decision.

I am about to begin my Primary Care Paramedic diploma here in Ontario and intend to work in the Alberta Oil sands. I have seen a few of my friends have severe back problems after working in the municipal EMS and some of them even had career ending injuries. This made me rethink my Paramedic career choice. But I also came to know about the 2/2 industrial work for medics in Alberta Oil Sands and thought that would be a good option for my situation. My long term aim is to work as an Advanced Care Paramedic (EMT-P) in Alberta industrial sites.

Do you think working 2 weeks on/ off for the rest of the life will work out?

Is oilfield job stable? Will oilfield medics at the EMT-P level always have jobs?

Are the driving conditions in Alberta very dangerous for the medics as some people say?

Thanks,
 
@StudentMedic Oil sands medic jobs are drying up. The gas prices have plummeted which makes those jobs scarce. I am a new ACP in Ontario and when I looked into being PCP out there the jobs were basically non existence. There are some but the ACP or EMT-P they call it out there is much more in demand. There are spots at government clinics as well which are much easier to get into and you actually preform patient care where a lot of my colleagues that work oil fields say they do 3-4 week tours out there and don't see one patient. It's all up to what you want to do in the end. Injuries are on the decline for road medics in our area anyways, the services have employed a ton of resources to help including the automated stretchers and stair chairs, keeping in shape and proper body mechanics can result in a long career. I, personally would not put all of my eggs in the oil sands. Hope this helps.
 
BlueJayMedic said:
@StudentMedic Oil sands medic jobs are drying up. The gas prices have plummeted which makes those jobs scarce. I am a new ACP in Ontario and when I looked into being PCP out there the jobs were basically non existence. There are some but the ACP or EMT-P they call it out there is much more in demand. There are spots at government clinics as well which are much easier to get into and you actually preform patient care where a lot of my colleagues that work oil fields say they do 3-4 week tours out there and don't see one patient. It's all up to what you want to do in the end. Injuries are on the decline for road medics in our area anyways, the services have employed a ton of resources to help including the automated stretchers and stair chairs, keeping in shape and proper body mechanics can result in a long career. I, personally would not put all of my eggs in the oil sands. Hope this helps.
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@BlueJayMedic Thanks for the reply. It would be very helpful if you could post your view for my few other questions too. Considering that the job market is hyper competitive in Ontario I thought I will at least have a shot in Alberta. Its sad to know that things are slowing down there as well.

Are the low oil prices a temporary thing? Some are saying that the prices will eventually get better and there will be more oilfield projects needing medic stand-by. What do you think?

Will obtaining my Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP) right away after my PCP improve my job prospects in Ontario?

Could you please provide more details regarding the job opportunities at the Government clinics that you mentioned?

My friend worked for the Toronto Paramedic Service and only after three years on the job he has to quit due to a back injury. Now he is in a completely different career. He was also saying that in Toronto and Hamilton the average career span of paramedics is roughly 5-7 years (Medics either burn-out due to busy call volume or suffer an injury). Para-medicine is a second career to me and I am really careful with what I choose this time. Para-medicine/ Firefighting is a career I love, but I also don't want to end up looking for a new career again after a few years. Outside the GTA and Hamilton do medics have a long term career? How is the call volume in the services outside the GTA?
 
StudentMedic said:
@BlueJayMedic Thanks for the reply. It would be very helpful if you could post your view for my few other questions too. Considering that the job market is hyper competitive in Ontario I thought I will at least have a shot in Alberta. Its sad to know that things are slowing down there as well.

Are the low oil prices a temporary thing? Some are saying that the prices will eventually get better and there will be more oilfield projects needing medic stand-by. What do you think?

Will obtaining my Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP) right away after my PCP improve my job prospects in Ontario?

Could you please provide more details regarding the job opportunities at the Government clinics that you mentioned?

My friend worked for the Toronto Paramedic Service and only after three years on the job he has to quit due to a back injury. Now he is in a completely different career. He was also saying that in Toronto and Hamilton the average career span of paramedics is roughly 5-7 years (Medics either burn-out due to busy call volume or suffer an injury). Para-medicine is a second career to me and I am really careful with what I choose this time. Para-medicine/ Firefighting is a career I love, but I also don't want to end up looking for a new career again after a few years. Outside the GTA and Hamilton do medics have a long term career? How is the call volume in the services outside the GTA?
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Job market is super competitive here because everyone sees the money you can make after a two year course and jumps into it. If you want a job around here you are going to need to pack in countless volunteer hours in the community, with your school and otherwise to pack your resume full. its just the way it has become. I think it's beneficial anyways. Do everything you can, literally. I even went down to the states a couple times a month and drove an ambulance for a volunteer company to get experience with driving and to see how their systems were different. Living in Niagara, it's nice to be able to do that, you can find job experience or volunteering that is related no matter where you're at.

No one knows what the oil prices will do. If you are getting into EMS to make money sitting in a vehicle not using your skills or for an easy buck than doing everything possible to end up in an SUV in the woods with a radio and a laptop is totally the way to go. Stress on your body is going to happen mentally or physically no matter where you go, that's something you need to be ready for and evaluate before you dive into the profession. The government clinics that I have seen have been mainly for EMT-P's but is worth looking into, not sure if they have BLS medics doing that or not. Google all that stuff, I don't have enough info on that stuff for you unfortunately.

5-7 years is a generalization. Its different everywhere you go. Toronto and Hamilton are bad because it is non-stop busy with zero down time and therefore they do have a high turnover rate. It makes it easier to get a job there because there are more openings more often but that comes with the possibility of burn out or an injury early on. I have been on 6 years PCP and just got certified ACP today (literally). I cant speak to how Toronto or Hamilton work to combat the burn out but in my service we have a two month rotation. One is at a base with high call volume and post's and the other is generally lower in both categories.

I think if you are making the jump from PCP to ACP with zero experience just to get a job faster that is a matter of personal preference but let me tell you it won't be easy. You are able to do this now at many schools in the province. This is new as before last year you needed a minimum of two years PCP experience before applying to any ACP program.

Do everything you can in school to make the resume look good, work hard, learn your stuff, volunteer and talk to as many people around here and your school as you can. The two years is not a cakewalk and ACP is even more challenging than that. Learn when services hire as well and stay on top of their HR websites.

Hope this long winded post helped a bit.
 
BlueJayMedic said:
Job market is super competitive here because everyone sees the money you can make after a two year course and jumps into it. If you want a job around here you are going to need to pack in countless volunteer hours in the community, with your school and otherwise to pack your resume full. its just the way it has become. I think it's beneficial anyways. Do everything you can, literally. I even went down to the states a couple times a month and drove an ambulance for a volunteer company to get experience with driving and to see how their systems were different. Living in Niagara, it's nice to be able to do that, you can find job experience or volunteering that is related no matter where you're at.

No one knows what the oil prices will do. If you are getting into EMS to make money sitting in a vehicle not using your skills or for an easy buck than doing everything possible to end up in an SUV in the woods with a radio and a laptop is totally the way to go. Stress on your body is going to happen mentally or physically no matter where you go, that's something you need to be ready for and evaluate before you dive into the profession. The government clinics that I have seen have been mainly for EMT-P's but is worth looking into, not sure if they have BLS medics doing that or not. Google all that stuff, I don't have enough info on that stuff for you unfortunately.

5-7 years is a generalization. Its different everywhere you go. Toronto and Hamilton are bad because it is non-stop busy with zero down time and therefore they do have a high turnover rate. It makes it easier to get a job there because there are more openings more often but that comes with the possibility of burn out or an injury early on. I have been on 6 years PCP and just got certified ACP today (literally). I cant speak to how Toronto or Hamilton work to combat the burn out but in my service we have a two month rotation. One is at a base with high call volume and post's and the other is generally lower in both categories.

I think if you are making the jump from PCP to ACP with zero experience just to get a job faster that is a matter of personal preference but let me tell you it won't be easy. You are able to do this now at many schools in the province. This is new as before last year you needed a minimum of two years PCP experience before applying to any ACP program.

Do everything you can in school to make the resume look good, work hard, learn your stuff, volunteer and talk to as many people around here and your school as you can. The two years is not a cakewalk and ACP is even more challenging than that. Learn when services hire as well and stay on top of their HR websites.

Hope this long winded post helped a bit.
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@BlueJayMedic Thanks again. For the very same reason I wanted to avoid Toronto and Hamilton. Do most of the medics make it to retirement in your service? (Or typically services outside the GTA) ?
 
@StudentMedic I have seen a couple medics retire from our service. A couple off on injury too, it's just a matter of hit or miss. You could be in the best shape of your life and it takes one combative patient or one instance where a patient spazzes on you and your back is shot. There is no avoiding it, just doing what you can to mitigate risk. Is that risk worth the reward you get from the profession? That is up to you to decide!
 
BlueJayMedic said:
@StudentMedic I have seen a couple medics retire from our service. A couple off on injury too, it's just a matter of hit or miss. You could be in the best shape of your life and it takes one combative patient or one instance where a patient spazzes on you and your back is shot. There is no avoiding it, just doing what you can to mitigate risk. Is that risk worth the reward you get from the profession? That is up to you to decide!
Click to expand...

@BlueJayMedic It really is a hard decision to make . Thanks for your insight dude.
 
I noticed there hasn't been any response to this. I know it sounds cliché, but my wife and I are considering a move to Nova Scotia. She's a Canadian citizen, grew up in Cape Breton. I'm in actually registered paramedic, and just started looking into reciprocity for Nova Scotia.

I understand I may have to live/work in a less than desirable area and I will have to start as a casual/PRN employee . I understand the process for reciprocity also takes a significant amount of time. If there's anyone here who currently works for EHS as a paramedic or, ideally, has gone through the reciprocity process and can offer any thoughts tips or tricks… I would appreciate it
 
Im back if anyone still has any question about reciprocity and working in canada.

Disclaimer- I Think the process I went through has been changed/updated.
 
Can anyone tell what is meant in Canadian job postings with ...´´graduated from a CMA approved program´´? does it mean that the Canadian Medical Association has a list somewhere with paramedic schools that are pre-approved? If yes, does this requirement exclude applications from a foreign paramedic, even though you have a provincial license?
 
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