How many people are on your ambulance?

[BEorP]

Paramedic/Paramedic
Paramedic/Student

sometimes 3 up if we have a university degree student doing clinical placement

When Australians mention a paramedic/student crew, is this student basically treated like a junior/probationary paramedic would be in Ontario? i.e. they can do pretty much everything but are closely watched and may be restricted from driving

Thinking of a student either driving an ambulance or attending to a patient on their own is a foreign concept to me since if a student ever did either of those things in Ontario there would be issues for them and their prepceptor... but I know that the Aussie system is quite different and when you say "student" it is probably very different from ours (who knows, probably even better than some of our paramedics!).

 

[the_negro_puppy]

When Australians mention a paramedic/student crew, is this student basically treated like a junior/probationary paramedic would be in Ontario? i.e. they can do pretty much everything but are closely watched and may be restricted from driving

Thinking of a student either driving an ambulance or attending to a patient on their own is a foreign concept to me since if a student ever did either of those things in Ontario there would be issues for them and their prepceptor... but I know that the Aussie system is quite different and when you say "student" it is probably very different from ours (who knows, probably even better than some of our paramedics!).

In my state, our service runs a student program that employs a student paramedic full time and trains them for 2.5 years to become a qualified paramedic. We work full-time on an ambulance and study in our own/down time. We go through 5 semesters, at the end of each is a week of assessments, and 1 week workshop introducing new skills. As we progress through training we do more and more under supervision.

We can do pretty much anything within the paramedic scope under supervision. At the moment I am nearly 3/5 semesters in and am doing IV's, inserting LMA's, giving drugs like morphine etc. All of this is obviously under the supervision/approval of the qualified paramedic. We drive all the time as well, generally taking turns driving and doing pt care. Its a pretty good deal, we earn a good amount of money with overtime, for me its gonna be 70K plus this financial year. If a patient is very unstable etc, usually we will do the driving of the ambulance or Intensive care paramedic car with the most senior skilled doing pt care.

We finish with a diploma of paramedic science enabling to work as an Advanced Care Paramedic. However, this method is being phased out with the university degree taking over. You do a 3 year degree which involves clinical placements as a 3rd officer on an ambulance. Once you graduate you do an 'intern' year getting paid what an advanced diploma student does, and working through some assessments. AFter this year you then become a qualified ACP.

 

[flyfisher151]

Wow. You Aussie's actually get to make some money being a medic! I'm glad somebody on the planet actually gets paid on par for the job. Looks like it's bottom dollar here in the US. :sad: Par for our course these days.

 

[TransportJockey]

Wow. You Aussie's actually get to make some money being a medic! I'm glad somebody on the planet actually gets paid on par for the job. Looks like it's bottom dollar here in the US. :sad: Par for our course these days.

THere's absolutely no reason to pay EMTs here in the US more than we make. The market is oversaturated and there's really no education required for the job unfortunately. EMS in the UK countries is the way it should be here.

 

[the_negro_puppy]

Wow. You Aussie's actually get to make some money being a medic! I'm glad somebody on the planet actually gets paid on par for the job. Looks like it's bottom dollar here in the US. :sad: Par for our course these days.

It seems to pay well, but don't forget our cost of living here is atrocious hence the higher wages.

For example:

This house in my city is for sale at $775,000 :blink:

 

[WolfmanHarris]

We get paid pretty well in Ontario. I grossed $75K last year, netted about $60K. Cost of living varies. I can't afford to live where I work, but I commute an hour and a bit and was able to buy a very comfortable house.

Education standards are key to more money. The doubling of our BLS education to two years (coupled with the downloading of EMS from the province to the counties) lead to a HUGE increase in wages and improved working conditions back in 2000.

 

[fortsmithman]

Wow. You Aussie's actually get to make some money being a medic! I'm glad somebody on the planet actually gets paid on par for the job. Looks like it's bottom dollar here in the US. :sad: Par for our course these days.

THere's absolutely no reason to pay EMTs here in the US more than we make. The market is oversaturated and there's really no education required for the job unfortunately. EMS in the UK countries is the way it should be here.

Here in Canada our medics make good money. Did you mean countries in the British Commonwealth of Nations, because the parliament of the United Kingdom have not had anything to do with Canada since our constitution was repatriated back in the 1980's.

 

[Aussie_Medic_Girl]

No, the patient transfer service is always singled crewed with one PTO, they transport alone because they are basically hospital<>home<>GP clinic runs.

What you are thinking of is "inter facility transfer" of acutely crook people which is handled by a normal road crew or sometimes they will send somebody but no, the PTS are not used for that.

I'll have to correct you here Brown. Our PTO service is generally actually double crewed with officers generally a lower clinical level than the on road officers. The transfers I refer to are things such as hospital to CT (as this is not located in the hospital) and hospital to airport for aeromedical evacuation. If a pt is unstable or requires constant monitoring then I will request the crew complete the transfer or alternatively have a nurse escort.

 

[Hepinghand]

How many people do you run on ambulances? The department I am joining typically runs three people to a truck, but sometimes runs four.

we run 2 emts in the back sometimes 3.Depends on what the call is.

 

[Bullets]

2 Basics and a cadet/probe. w usually have a handful of cadets around do we take one on everything but crisis and od calls. if its a cpr then that goes out the window, we usually roll 2 trucks and have multiple members. I like my code to be a party

 

[TransportJockey]

Here in Canada our medics make good money. Did you mean countries in the British Commonwealth of Nations, because the parliament of the United Kingdom have not had anything to do with Canada since our constitution was repatriated back in the 1980's.

I did mean commonwealth, sorry about that.

 

[addictedforever]

Here in rural Oregon. Our 95% volunteer ALS ambulance always rolls with one paramedic and one basic. Occasionally there's also a student/trainee/ride along. But also dispatched at the same time is the squad which may have anywhere from two to ten people on it all rankings from first responders to paramedics, plus the officer who is usually another EMT.

 

[paramedic911]

2 medic

 

[Fox800]

Double paramedic, both are credentialed to the same level.

 

[Outbac1]

Here in Nova Scotia the units are staffed with two people. It could be any mix of PCP,ICP,ACP. At my base all but one unit is scheduled to be staffed with an ACP and/or PCP or ICP. Of course vacation or sick days will affect the desired mix. If we have three on a unit the third is either a student or a medic doing a return to practice after being off for a period of time. eg: extended sick leave.
We haven't had any new ICPs since 2002. At one time we had over 300 and now have less than 100. They've either quit, retired, or up graded to ACP.