EMS in Canada

Wingnut

Wingnut

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Ok, my husband suprised me last night with the news that he wants to move to Canada. :unsure: BIG difference from FL, but I know we have some Canadian members that might be able to fill me in on what EMS is like up there.

Do they accept U.S. National registry lisence or would I have to go to school all over again? Is it paid mostly or volunteer & how much do they normally make? What's the average schedule there?

We'd be going to the Toronto area IF we actually do this, so any info would be great. I'll be google-ing a little later.
 
TTLWHKR

TTLWHKR

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I always pictured Canada has having no ambulances at all, except in the cities.. and the secluded areas only having dog sleds, snowbulances, and carrots to fly the patients out..

I'd like to see how it's done in the northern territories where communities are cut off during 7-8 months out of the year.

I don't think they have volunteer EMS at all, my impression was some fire dept's are volunteer, but EMS was a government run deal.
:unsure:

We should bring in someone from Canada to answer this..... A Canadian meat wagon expert.
 
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FFEMT1764

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Yes we need a Canadian whacker! One with years of knowledge and experience...

:blink: :huh: Wingnut, has your husband lost his ever loving mind- it stays below freezing 8 months out of the year in Canada...huge change from Naples. I think you would quickly be moving south again after the first 12 feet of snow fell during the winter...
 
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Wingnut

Wingnut

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FFEMT1764 said:
Yes we need a Canadian whacker! One with years of knowledge and experience...

:blink: :huh: Wingnut, has your husband lost his ever loving mind- it stays below freezing 8 months out of the year in Canada...huge change from Naples. I think you would quickly be moving south again after the first 12 feet of snow fell during the winter...
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Yeah, I think he has...BUT I'm from New York so I know what we're getting into. I always wanted to go back north, I'm really not a tropical weather gal. Which is why I'm even entertaining the idea. He's from N Georgia/Texas, so he knows what snow is ;) lol and he hates the climate here too. We've been talking about moving for years but I couldn't get him any farther than Texas....now this lol.


WHKR...LMFAO, I kinda picture the same think, maybe I'll be over qualified (Just Kidding!!!!) I love the U.S. it'll be a difficult decision.

But yes, lets hunt down a Canadian Whacker...actually my EMT instructor grew up and worked in Canada before she came here, so maybe I'll give her a call and see what she says.
 
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Chimpie

Chimpie

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We have a new member, BEorPhttp://www.emtlife.com/member.php?u=221 that is from Ontario. Why don't you shoot him a PM and invite him into this thread?

And, I don't know why I'm even helping you with this. I mean, you're one of the cool people in this forum and you're about an 90 minutes south of me. You can't leave, you just can't. I'll, I'll, I'll arrange a rollover on 75 and you won't be able to make it pass Sarasota. I mean it. I can make it happen.
 
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FFEMT1764

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I know people....I could send the Canadians a letter saying you have been exposed to, hmm... last time I tried to get into Canada they said I couldn't come because I had been around someone who had TB....yea thats the ticket....;)
 
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Wingnut

Wingnut

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ROFLMAO...I love ya guys too ;)

My husband seems to have temporarily gone nuts...:wacko: we'll see if he still feels this way in a month or 2 then I'll really talk to him about it. Ya'll know how these big ideas work.

And no matter where I live, I'll never leave you all, I promise! Besides we have a get together in Orlando to plan. I sure as hell can't leave FL before then.
 
ffemt8978

ffemt8978

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Wasn't TKO Canadian, also? I haven't seen her around lately.
 
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FFEMT1764

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Yes lets take an ad out in EMS weekly...Canadian whacker wanted to provide insight to local EMS forum....
 
ffemt8978

ffemt8978

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TTLWHKR said:
Who is TKO?
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TKO

There were a few other Canucks around here at one time or another.
 
Stevo

Stevo

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ems is aout the same where ever you'll go wingnut, 'cept in China it's '119'

~S~
 
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squid

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I didn't do any EMS in Canada, so I don't know much about it, but I'll fight you to the death over your descriptions of the climate :D

And if anyone wants to talk about working way the hell up north, I can blather on about that at length.
 
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BEorP

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Wingnut said:
Ok, my husband suprised me last night with the news that he wants to move to Canada. :unsure: BIG difference from FL, but I know we have some Canadian members that might be able to fill me in on what EMS is like up there.

Do they accept U.S. National registry lisence or would I have to go to school all over again? Is it paid mostly or volunteer & how much do they normally make? What's the average schedule there?

We'd be going to the Toronto area IF we actually do this, so any info would be great. I'll be google-ing a little later.
Click to expand...

Sorry to take so long to reply to this thread, I am a Paramedic student in Toronto and school keeps me very busy these days. Hopefully you're still considering the move, or at least someone else will find the info useful. I will do my best to let you know a bit about EMS in Ontario. Keep in mind that this info may not be entirely correct as it is all coming from the top of my head. If there is a point where details matter I can check it with someone who knows for sure.

In Ontario we have three levels of EMS providers (not including First Responders):
- Primary Care Paramedics: two year college education (although always open for debate, this is probably around the level of EMT-I)
- Advanced Care Paramedics: after getting work experience, an addition year of education (generally considered equivalent to your EMT-P)
- Critical Care Paramedics: more education after experience, mainly used in flight but Toronto may be using some for ground critical transfers but I'm really not sure

To put it bluntly, an EMT-B cert means nothing in Ontario and will not give you the ability to challenge the EMCA exams (the exams that you need to write to become a PCP).

If you are an EMT-P then equivalency has much more potential. Although it may take a bit of work, I know for sure that it has been done in the past... as long as you really do have the skills and knowledge of an ACP.

Almost ever single service is paid (I do not know of any volunteer services, but regulations regarding them are mentioned in the Ambulance Act). In the areas you would be looking to move (Southern Ontario or the GTA) the services will be paid for sure.

I believe the average hourly wage for a PCP in Ontario was around $28 CAD last year (don't quote me on that) so it is a decent wage, especially compared to what I have heard about EMS pay down south.

That's all I've got to say for now... if anyone else wants to know more I will try to actually check this thread in the near future, or you can PM me for me email
 
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BEorP

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Almost forgot about the shift question... Toronto EMS has a shift schedule that seemed confusing to me and that I've never had to worry about since I'm not riding out yet, but I am fairly certain that the shifts are 12s. Other services in the province (such as Huron EMS) have both 12 and 24 hour shifts.
 
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Wingnut

Wingnut

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BEorp, Thankyou. We're still thinking about it. We're going to be coming up to Toronto this summer (we have some friends that live there). I've been looking around on websites there isn't much info on thier EMS or police (I believe they're contables? up there) Maybe when we get up there and can talk to someone in person we'll get a better idea. From what I could make out I'd have to go back to school to work up there and they are not taking international applications for thier police.

I'm only a -B but I was planning on going medic anyway and getting my RN too. It's a hard decision because our whole family is against it and if Jay at least can't transfer as a cop it wouldn't be worth it, we might end up in upstate NY instead. Although I highly doubt he's going to be willing to go there. He has something against NY. :rolleyes:
 
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