Tennessee Paramedic to Canada
Ok. I thought I should offer my two cents because I am an A-EMCA from Ontario and a Tennessee Paramedic. An ACP in Ontario is equivalent to a Tennessee paramedic (e.g. EMT-P), and/or any U.S. EMT-P graduating from a U.S. DOT approved program.
If you want to reciprocate as a Tennessee paramedic to Ontario, you have to go through the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care Equivalency process--it is a drawn out process, but it is designed to ensure that you have the necessary understanding of the Ontario system to function safely and effectively. The goal of a Tennessee paramedic to reciprocate to Ontario is to obtain an A-EMCA certificate/license and then obtain ACP certification. First, you must apply for equivalency at the entry level--known, when employed, as a PCP (Primary Care Paramedic)--This requires an application, fees, and practical and written testing—this results in an A-EMCA certificate being issued. The applicant then applies for ACP (Advanced Care Paramedic) which entails another application, fees, and practical and written testing.
Here is the direct link to MOHLTC
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/program/ehs/edu/equiv_qa.html
Canada has inter-provincial agreements to allow transfer of skills from province to province and it is still not perfect—Alberta is very difficult transfer to for example.
Now, let me say something about this nonsense regarding U.S. EMT-P’s versus Canadian ACP's. Both are professionals and highly knowledgeable. Assessment skills are paramount to both training systems and I can tell everyone from experience (Ontario and Tennessee in my case) "monkey-see monkey-do" is NOT practiced in either system. I hear this unsubstantiated criticism most often from Canadian paramedics reflexively denigrating their U.S. counterparts--this is blatant anti-Americanism and it is, quite frankly, embarrassing. The reality is, U.S. paramedics are among the highest trained pre-hospital providers in the world and our ALS systems are among the oldest. Regarding paramedic education, it is required in 14 states to complete a 2 year AAS or AS in Paramedic Care prior to initial licensure as an EMT-P and the AAS is offered in all states with the exception of Maryland where the only education based Paramedic program is a 4 year BS from UMBC. It is also normal practice to require licensure at the entry level (in Tennessee, this is currently the EMT-IV which takes 8 months to complete at community college) and at least one year of road experience prior to entrance to a Paramedic program (There is a current trend in Tennessee schools to allow entrance immediately after graduation from EMT-IV, but there is a high drop-out rate and this trend is not looked upon favorably by experienced medics in the field). Regarding the education of certificate program paramedics, national accreditation is the norm, and soon to be required across the U.S., and these programs are typically 3 or 4 full-time semesters in length at community college. As for the practice environment, I can say unequivocally, that the U.S. offers a more open practice environment than is typical of the Canadian systems.
Taking Wake County EMS and the King County Medic One systems as examples, the U.S. leads the world in survival from cardiac arrest, and we collectively have the best trauma, stroke and cardiac systems available anywhere. U.S. EMT-P’s are central to that success and are often “wagging the dog” regarding advancements in emergency care and the implementation of technology.
--on a side note, what’s up with Ottawa EMS removing IV initiation from their PCP skill set—gee wiz!! They are acting like IV initiation is equivalent to neurosurgery!! THAT is one blatant example of CRAZY that is not experienced in the US.
