From Paramedic to Infantryman

[mariomike]

I considered reg force, however I decided against it for a number of reasons...

I am only familiar with the one service, but in the last 40+ years, I never heard of anyone from the Department ( the largest municipal service in Canada ) leaving to join the Regular Force.

Not even our Reservists.

I asked someone at HQ ( who would know better than I ), and he was sure it has never happened.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Trust me, once a medic always a medic.  And once they figure you're a civy medic, you'll be the Coy Medic when the Medic isn't there.  Infantry are funny that way. 

I'm sure this happens but it doesn't seem right to me.

If someone joines the reserve infantry then they should be employed as an infantry soldier.

Also in my experience medics were always under a pretty big microscope. I remember arguing over the capabilities of what our company medic was allowed to do.  The reserve medic private couldn't even give advil (at the time, not sure if it's changed). He admitted that he was basially there to put his finger in a gunshot hole or apply a field dressing. 

Would't a reserve infantry soldier doing civilian paramedic style medicine to soldiers while signed in cause some kind of bun fight?

 

[ModlrMike]

Trust me, once a medic always a medic.  And once they figure you're a civy medic, you'll be the Coy Medic when the Medic isn't there.  Infantry are funny that way.

Trust me, as a former Med Coy CSM that nothing could be farther from the truth.


Short version: if you want to be a Medic, join as one. If you want to be infantry, join the infantry. Don't rely on changing trades later, it's much harder than you think.

 

[MedCorps]

Trust me there is a big difference, Med A's are, in theory, supposed to replace Med Techs in the rear area so that the Techs can be pushed fwd and deployed (especially as dismounts), as MedA's are not supposed to fwd deploy.  <--THEORY, a wonderful land where everything works.

In practice however, not much difference except for scope of practice.  For lack of a better example RN vs RPN(LPN).  In reality Health Services treats both pawns the same, especially at the Reserve Level.  Never worked with any Med A's in the REG F world  though. Only when I got tasked out to support the ResF and the Med A's were fwd deployed just like Techs.  Although with a very limited Scope of Practice.

The MedA role of being in the rear and pushing Med Tech's forward is no longer a supported concept.  This was an employment concept in the past. You will not find that doctrinally / policy anywhere and the new Med A Scope of Practice / Protocols and Procedures Manual supports this move to have Med A's working with Med Techs in the forward environment (note that I did not say, replacing).

If you look at the new RQL4 Med A Scope of Practice it allows for much of the same combat / prehospital medicine skills as the QL3 Med Tech.  The main difference is level of care: PCP vs. Medical First Responder + Military Prehospital Skills Package.  In fact, if you take out the PCP medication skill set, when you look at the RQL4 Med A vs. QL3 Med Tech they are almost the same, less the inability of the RQL4 Med A to give narcotic analgesia (which is why Med A should work with Med Tech in the prehospital environment where pain management may be important / likely).  The new Med A Protocols and Procedures Manual which is just about to be released will re-enforce this concept.  The new RQL3 / RQL4 will come on line in summer 2015 (with any luck) and the changes to the Med A programme will be evident.

The real difference between Med Tech / Med A comes at the QL5A Med Tech level where things are ramped up a notch in prehospital / operational medicine and most notabley in the Primary Care area of responsability.  The RQL6A course does not even come close to the Med Tech QL5A competency profile. 

MC

 

[MedCorps]

Also in my experience medics were always under a pretty big microscope. I remember arguing over the capabilities of what our company medic was allowed to do.  The reserve medic private couldn't even give advil (at the time, not sure if it's changed). He admitted that he was basially there to put his finger in a gunshot hole or apply a field dressing. 

You will be happy to know that the Res F Med A is now able to give you both Advil AND Tylenol if you need it    Well... once they get the new protocols trained and signed off...

MC

 

[mariomike]

I love being a paramedic, and will soon be doing my ACP. Im a bit of a freak... I love night shifts, and I love crazy, hectic days at work. I know (from reading and talking to RegForce members) that the life of a MedTech on base can be boring at times to say the least. Fact of the matter is, pay is beter as a civvy, I probably get more calls in a week to a month than I would in a year as a base medic, and I get more autonomy over my living situation as a reservist.

Interesting how each province, and each service, operates differently. In Ontario alone, we have about 60 services.

I was reading that BCAS operates "Metropolitan, Urban, Rural and Remote" stations across the province. ( The only quiet station we had was on the Islands via ferry. )

Would senior BCAS Paramedics be likely to bid for Remote stations for the lower Call Volumes? I would think that a change of scenery and pace would be a welcome relief for many. Personally, I found the job more

fun when we were busy ( which was almost always  ).

I wonder if morale is highest in the urban stations? ( I say that because a number of guys who had previously worked for out-of-town services before joining Metro mentioned it. )

Can Paramedics be involuntarily redeployed around British Columbia?

I see BCAS has part-timers. We never had them. We all worked 20 twelve-hour shifts every six weeks.

BCAS has non-emergency transfer ambulances. Non-emergency transfers in Toronto are done by private companies.

You also mentioned SAR Techs. The only time I ever saw CF SAR was at the CNE Air Show.

Interesting that you prefer night shifts. I preferred straight days. With seniority, we can bid for an 0700-1900 weekday only shift. ( It's a 5-3-2 pattern Monday - Friday. ) This would be ideal for Reservists. ( Although with mandated overtime, you never really know what time your shift will end. )

The good thing for Paramedic - Reservists is the Military Leave Policy. We didn't have such a Policy until the late 1990's. Fortunately, I took my CAF trade training during high school. Otherwise, being a Paramedic and a

Reservist would have been difficult. ( Due to the shift work. )

Unlike now, back then the Department gave us Reservists very little support. "This is your career, that is your hobby," was the attitude if you asked for a shift change.

 

[Badner]

Interesting how each province, and each service, operates differently. In Ontario alone, we have about 60 services.

I was reading that BCAS operates "Metropolitan, Urban, Rural and Remote" stations across the province. ( The only quiet station we had was on the Islands via ferry. )

Would senior BCAS Paramedics be likely to bid for Remote stations for the lower Call Volumes? I would think that a change of scenery and pace would be a welcome relief for many. Personally, I found the job more

fun when we were busy ( which was almost always  ).

I wonder if morale is highest in the urban stations? ( I say that because a number of guys who had previously worked for out-of-town services before joining Metro mentioned it. )

Can Paramedics be involuntarily redeployed around British Columbia?

I see BCAS has part-timers. We never had them. We all worked 20 twelve-hour shifts every six weeks.

BCAS has non-emergency transfer ambulances. Non-emergency transfers in Toronto are done by private companies.

You also mentioned SAR Techs. The only time I ever saw CF SAR was at the CNE Air Show.

Interesting that you prefer night shifts. I preferred straight days. With seniority, we can bid for an 0700-1900 weekday only shift. ( It's a 5-3-2 pattern Monday - Friday. ) This would be ideal for Reservists. ( Although with mandated overtime, you never really know what time your shift will end. )

The good thing for Paramedic - Reservists is the Military Leave Policy. We didn't have such a Policy until the late 1990's. Fortunately, I took my CAF trade training during high school. Otherwise, being a Paramedic and a

Reservist would have been difficult. ( Due to the shift work. )

Unlike now, back then the Department gave us Reservists very little support. "This is your career, that is your hobby," was the attitude if you asked for a shift change.

Ok in order...

BCAS is a provincial organization. We have a mixture of EMRs, PCPs, and ACPs. The entire system is run on senority. Everyone starts as a part time employee. First you do your training, then you get hired to a rural station, do on call pager shifts for a couple of years, and finally you get enough senority to bid for a station with higher call volume. Some people who live and work in rural communities do it almost as a community service, and have no desire to go full time. Pager pay starts at $2 an hour, based on a 12 hour shift. So the minimum you make in 12hrs for carrying a pager is $24, with a callout being a mimimum 4 hours pay at full wage (starting at $19 an hour for EMRs and $21 an hour for PCP-IVs). As a part timer you submit your own availability on the 15th of every month for the next month, ie. Dec 15th for January availability. You have the ability to swap shifts and trade as you please. We are transitioning to a rural care model where-by we will be employed more in the community, as well as the ER. An example of this would be bringing drugs to seniors who are mobility limited, or doing a shift in the ER in almost an LPN role. This will provide better pay opportunities for paramedics in rural areas. The great thing about being a part-timer paramedic and reservist in BC is that we get leave for annual training whilest still being paid, and accruing senority. If I have a last minute ex or training to attend, I can trade shifts or get them covered with minimal hassel.

As far as senior paramedics bidding on rural or remote stations? There are certain gravy retirement stations that a lot of the old guys try to get into, especially mid island, which is pretty slow and easy going (ie. parksville or qualicum). Generally though everyone is trying to get Vancouver. Right now it takes about 5 years of part time senority just to get into Van as irreg (spare board). We work with the SAR Techs a lot, I ran 2 calls with them last year (and thats just me, not including everyone else at my station or the rest of the stations in the province), and 2 the year before. BC has some pretty gnarly geography, lots of rural coastline and mountains.

Paramedics can not be invluntarily moved around the province.

Morale highest in urban stations? I doubt it. People in urban areas are generally over worked, under paid, and just trying to get through their 4 and 4. Morale is probably highest in a station like whistler, where you can ski with your pager. Getting paid to ski? Talk about morale boost.

 

[mariomike]

What a difference!

T-EMS covers 240 square miles. It's a High-Performance service. There are about 40 stations. The Unit Hour Utilization ( UHU ) at all of them is high.

We do not have EMRs. Most are Level 1 PCP.

We do not do non-emergency transfers. All of our calls come via 9-1-1.

Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough is as rural as we get.

Our system is seniority driven. The "Senior Qualified Process". I don't believe the "Relative Ability Process" is used much, if at all.

We belong to a union, but do not have, and do not seek, the Right to Strike. Issues not resolved by collective bargaining, go to binding interest arbitration.

We do not employ part-timers, volunteers or auxiliary.

You are assigned a  permanent schedule, permanent station and a permanent partner. They are not subject to change, unless you wish to bid on a vacancy.

We also have Special Operations teams such as CCTU, HUSAR, ESU-MPU ( a specialized ambulance bus and truck fleet ) , ETF ( Tactical ), Community Medicine, Marine , HAZMAT, CBRN, bike, PSU, ERU and others.

As I said, nobody quit to join the Regular Force. But, I knew a few ( four? ) Reservists, including myself. Because we are all full-time, it's best to get your Reserve training while in high school ( if possible ).