HELP please - Ankle Injury- Talk Of Med. Release

[medic1sd]

I have an  ankle injury that has been going on for over a year never been on tcat ( except when i was pregnant) and the doctor is saying that i am looking like i am going down the road of tcat, pcat, out,  and is saying i will not be able to work was what i am trained as, on the outside. right now i am on a three month tcat, which is expiring soon (aug) the says if it is not better it is not going to get better and i will go on pcat. he has reffered me to an orthopedic surgeon, but that is a yr wait and thinks i wont be have surgery done. i am sorry for this being long but i just need help on how to get a second opinion, and if getting med release is bad. i just needed to give a little history.

 

[PuckChaser]

They're not going to release you without seeing a specialist. If that specialists says theres nothing they can do, well you may be down that road to PCAT. You may be retained with restrictions depending on how the injury effects your day to day service requirements.

 

[GR66]

I'd visit your local IPSC as soon as possible.  Whichever way you end up going with your medical condition they will be able to help you through the process.

 

[medic1sd]

i am a medic and i have nubness in my foot, and constant pain right now my restrictions are that i can not go dismounted, but i have proven that i can do the field portion as long as i am, in the ums/bms or even evac platoon. i was just deployed to the floods. my doc said that if my foot is not better by aug i would be on pcat, which i thought that you were not able to go on pcat till after a yr of tcat. i never dreamed of being anything but a paramedic,

 

[stokerwes]

If you do end up getting a release. Who says you still can't be a paramedic? I have seen some paramedics that can hardly get out of the bus when they arrive on scene.. You just do not meet the CAF's universality of service. Many people with injuries they suffered while serving have been released and carry on with civilian work that is at times more demanding than the CAF. Don't give up. If you want to stay in fight for it. IPSC and your caseworker will advocate on your behalf which is a good thing as they do not fall under your chain of command. There are many resources and organizations that will assist you. In the end the decision is up to you.
Good luck.

 

[mariomike]

i never dreamed of being anything but a paramedic,

These are some of the health and physical components of the recruitment process that all candidates must pass where I worked. Standards may vary between Paramedic services and provinces.

Job Demands Analysis (JDA):
http://torontoems.ca/main-site/careers/recruitment/2012/TEMS-JDA.pdf

Health Questionnaire:
http://www.torontoems.ca/main-site/careers/recruitment/2012/2012-Toronto-EMS-Health-Questionnaire-Final.pdf

Physical ability test:
http://www.awci.ca/
https://secured.sibley.ca/employer/

"Ambulance Specific Lifting Test": Evaluates the candidate’s physical and technical ability to safely manage the movement of a patient.

Who says you still can't be a paramedic? I have seen some paramedics that can hardly get out of the bus when they arrive on scene..

So have I.

But, I never saw ( in the city where I worked ) any who were hired in that condition.

 

[medicineman]

i am a medic and i have nubness in my foot, and constant pain right now my restrictions are that i can not go dismounted, but i have proven that i can do the field portion as long as i am, in the ums/bms or even evac platoon. i was just deployed to the floods. my doc said that if my foot is not better by aug i would be on pcat, which i thought that you were not able to go on pcat till after a yr of tcat. i never dreamed of being anything but a paramedic,

That's a common misconception - you can go straight to a PCat for an injury or illness that isn't resolving or likely to resolve after the first TCat...some injuries or illnesses will buy a PCat simply because they won't resolve, their natural history is such that they will worsen with time and or abuse or require that certain restrictions on geographic/occupational employment must be put in place.  I'm not going to get into your specific issue as I don't do that over the net, especially with only one half of the story.  Suffice to say, it can happen, does happen, and is happening more frequently now.

Best of luck.

MM

 

[Nudibranch]

^ Agreed. The issue is more length of time you've had the medical problem, not the length of time from when you were finally put on TCAT. If your doc sees an issue that's been going on for a year now, there's no need to keep you on TCAT for another year before moving to PCAT.

Also, your local doc doesn't assign a PCAT. He or she only recommends; D Med Pol in Ottawa decides whether the issue warrants a PCAT or an extension of the TCAT, so you get a "2nd opinion" built into the system. Your file waits for D Med Pol decision for a few months, than a DMCA decision for another few - by then you'll likely have gotten into Ortho, that waiting process can take a good 10 months unless someone expedites it for some reason. Then, even if you get a release, that's another 6 months of time from decision to actual release date. And up until you start retirement leave, you can always ask for a PCAT amendment should your issue resolve itself.

So even if your doc recommends a PCAT tomorrow and it gets approved and the MEL's warrant a release, you will have over a year to get better (and of course prove you've gotten better, the bar is quite high to reverse a release decision, but if for ex there was something fixable surgically and it's fixed, the decision might be reversed).