Medical Technician ( Med Tech )
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MedCorps said:
Considering this is a thread about Medical TECHNICIANS and not Assistants, my point still stands.
mariomike said:How does that work in Ontario? We do not have EMTs.
Looks like I posted same time as Medcorps.
Regardless of whether or not you call your medics Paramedics or EMTs or Magic Healing Man... Whatever people operate in your Ambulances (Air and Ground), whatever certification or licence they hold, PRes units now require that you have it before they will take you on strength.
MedCorps
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Taking medical type courses (short of being a primary care paramedic or higher) as part of your application plan (that is, you plan to get hired) really only serves two purposes.
1) It allows you to answer the question, "How do you know you want to be a Medical Technician?" If you have some medical type courses you have something to talk about. "Well, I have done an advanced first aid course (advance anatomy course/etc/etc) and I really liked learning about anatomy, interviewing patients and putting on splints". More valuable is having courses, plus some experience with actual sick people. Again, it makes for a better answer to the question, "How do you know you want to be a Medical Technician?" It then looks like, "Well, I have done an advanced first aid course and volunteer with St John Ambulance/Ski Patrol/Nursing Home/Hospital. I have had the chance to treat a bunch of sick people including a fellow who we think was having a heart attack. It felt really good to put my skills to use and help someone who could not help them self!"
I suspect that it must be hard for the CFRC folks when they ask the question, "How do you know you want to be a Medical Technician?" and they get a blank stare, or the comment that it sounded like less hard than being an infantryman, or that they watched Combat Hospital and it looked like a good go.
2) It shows that you have the capability to learn and pass basic level medical training. This will not fly for CPR Level A, but if you do a Wilderness First Responder Course, Medical First Responder, Emergency Medical Responder or some other advanced sounding medical-type training where a risk of failure exists it shows that you have the capabilty to learn medical stuff.
Rest assured that when you join the CAF you will get to do Standard First Aid and CPR all over again (even if you are a First Aid Instructor) and when you show up at the CFHS Training Centre in Borden we will assume you are a retard and know nothing medical and start at square one.
So what do I want in a Med Tech candidate? Other then the above....
Someone who is fit.
Someone who is a team player and can work with other people.
Someone who can show discretion and maturity.
Someone who can self-problem solve.
Someone who is fit (have I mentioned that yet?).
Someone who can communicate orally (must) and written (ideally).
Someone who likes and can work in the outdoors.
Someone who is trustworthy.
Note I did not put high on this list someone who is a First Aid Instructor / PhD anatomist / adult-child-infant AED qualified / Advanced First Aid trained / Wilderness First Responder / etc.
If you come with the above skill set / attributes we can make you a high functioning Med Tech by teaching you the knowledge and skills you need.
Look luck with your application.
MC
1) It allows you to answer the question, "How do you know you want to be a Medical Technician?" If you have some medical type courses you have something to talk about. "Well, I have done an advanced first aid course (advance anatomy course/etc/etc) and I really liked learning about anatomy, interviewing patients and putting on splints". More valuable is having courses, plus some experience with actual sick people. Again, it makes for a better answer to the question, "How do you know you want to be a Medical Technician?" It then looks like, "Well, I have done an advanced first aid course and volunteer with St John Ambulance/Ski Patrol/Nursing Home/Hospital. I have had the chance to treat a bunch of sick people including a fellow who we think was having a heart attack. It felt really good to put my skills to use and help someone who could not help them self!"
I suspect that it must be hard for the CFRC folks when they ask the question, "How do you know you want to be a Medical Technician?" and they get a blank stare, or the comment that it sounded like less hard than being an infantryman, or that they watched Combat Hospital and it looked like a good go.
2) It shows that you have the capability to learn and pass basic level medical training. This will not fly for CPR Level A, but if you do a Wilderness First Responder Course, Medical First Responder, Emergency Medical Responder or some other advanced sounding medical-type training where a risk of failure exists it shows that you have the capabilty to learn medical stuff.
Rest assured that when you join the CAF you will get to do Standard First Aid and CPR all over again (even if you are a First Aid Instructor) and when you show up at the CFHS Training Centre in Borden we will assume you are a retard and know nothing medical and start at square one.
So what do I want in a Med Tech candidate? Other then the above....
Someone who is fit.
Someone who is a team player and can work with other people.
Someone who can show discretion and maturity.
Someone who can self-problem solve.
Someone who is fit (have I mentioned that yet?).
Someone who can communicate orally (must) and written (ideally).
Someone who likes and can work in the outdoors.
Someone who is trustworthy.
Note I did not put high on this list someone who is a First Aid Instructor / PhD anatomist / adult-child-infant AED qualified / Advanced First Aid trained / Wilderness First Responder / etc.
If you come with the above skill set / attributes we can make you a high functioning Med Tech by teaching you the knowledge and skills you need.
Look luck with your application.
MC
Thanks a lot for the detailed reply. Based on what you said, would you recommend taking a course such a Wilderness First Responder prior to application or should I just stick to basic first aid and CPR-C? I am more than willing to do WFR but if it won't offer much more in terms of competitiveness than CPR-C and first aid I would much rather save the money.
MedCorps
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Given the option between WFR and Standard FA with CPR-C I would suggest that if you are going to take something take the WFR (which may very well have SFA with Level C-CPR as a pre-req). Just having FA with CPR will only make you marginally more attractive (if at all) then the other 1000 people applying to be Med Techs and is not worth your effort for the sake of application (although good skills to have as an applicant or not and skills that every responsible adult should have).
If you do not want to spend the money then do not worry about it, seriously. Go volunteer at a hospital / nursing home. Another option would be doing a ride-along with an ambulance or fire service that does medical response. These are free options and will get you the same traction.
Just ask yourself how I am I going to answer the question, "How do you know you want to be a Medical Technician?". Remember the question is not, "What medical skills do you bring to the table as a potential Med Tech?".
MC
If you do not want to spend the money then do not worry about it, seriously. Go volunteer at a hospital / nursing home. Another option would be doing a ride-along with an ambulance or fire service that does medical response. These are free options and will get you the same traction.
Just ask yourself how I am I going to answer the question, "How do you know you want to be a Medical Technician?". Remember the question is not, "What medical skills do you bring to the table as a potential Med Tech?".
MC
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Firefly11 said:
Sorry to hear that. I did not know your location.
In case anyone else is interested in the program, here are the regional groups across Canada:
http://www.medvents.ca/CanadianRegionalGroups
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I know I am reviving an old post, but wanted to add in some information for future med tech prospects.
After BMQ (14 weeks) you go to Borden and wait on PAT platoon for anywhere between 1 week to 1 year. During that time you will be loaded on BMQ-Land which is 4 weeks long. 3 weeks are learning theory, and 1 week is field at the end, although you spend days at the different ranges during the first three weeks as well. It does not matter what element you are, all medics do SQ. If you are an air force medic, you will also have to do BAEQ, which is a one week course on the history, roles and traditions of the air force. While on PAT platoon you can put in a memo to do OJE (On the Job Experience) in a clinic at a base as long as you have more than 6 weeks before your QL3 and it does not interfere with your BMQ-Land or other courses. You also have to have a free place to live and eat and must be within a 30 minute commute to a base. No other courses are authorized while on PAT Platoon, so you cannot get your 404`s (Military Driver`s License) or other things.
Once you are course loaded you will do pre-course admin for a week, and then it is approx. 3.5 months of clinical, and then you are sent to Medavie Health Ed. in Moncton (if you are Anglophone) for 5.5 months for your PCP license. It is a civilian college, but your "class" will be only Military, so you still wear your uniform to school. You stay at a hotel in a room with one other person and the food is pretty good. After that you go back to Borden for the field phase which is only two weeks long. After that you will receive your posting message, which for some takes up to a month. You will be on PAT platoon during this time, where you will coordinate your house hunting trip and move.
After BMQ (14 weeks) you go to Borden and wait on PAT platoon for anywhere between 1 week to 1 year. During that time you will be loaded on BMQ-Land which is 4 weeks long. 3 weeks are learning theory, and 1 week is field at the end, although you spend days at the different ranges during the first three weeks as well. It does not matter what element you are, all medics do SQ. If you are an air force medic, you will also have to do BAEQ, which is a one week course on the history, roles and traditions of the air force. While on PAT platoon you can put in a memo to do OJE (On the Job Experience) in a clinic at a base as long as you have more than 6 weeks before your QL3 and it does not interfere with your BMQ-Land or other courses. You also have to have a free place to live and eat and must be within a 30 minute commute to a base. No other courses are authorized while on PAT Platoon, so you cannot get your 404`s (Military Driver`s License) or other things.
Once you are course loaded you will do pre-course admin for a week, and then it is approx. 3.5 months of clinical, and then you are sent to Medavie Health Ed. in Moncton (if you are Anglophone) for 5.5 months for your PCP license. It is a civilian college, but your "class" will be only Military, so you still wear your uniform to school. You stay at a hotel in a room with one other person and the food is pretty good. After that you go back to Borden for the field phase which is only two weeks long. After that you will receive your posting message, which for some takes up to a month. You will be on PAT platoon during this time, where you will coordinate your house hunting trip and move.
MedCorps
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Good post above.
One thing worth noting is that the QL3 is under review with a new curriculum coming out around September 2014. Should not change things all that drastically however the clinical and field phase timing may increase / decrease somewhat as the curriculum changes. These things happen as they attempt to modernize training every 5-10 years.
I also am hearing that the School is trying to come up with other training options for PATs, including 404's, language training, etc, etc to make the Pte (B) a little more employable when they arrive at their first unit. We will see how that works. This is just the rumour of the month.
MC
One thing worth noting is that the QL3 is under review with a new curriculum coming out around September 2014. Should not change things all that drastically however the clinical and field phase timing may increase / decrease somewhat as the curriculum changes. These things happen as they attempt to modernize training every 5-10 years.
I also am hearing that the School is trying to come up with other training options for PATs, including 404's, language training, etc, etc to make the Pte (B) a little more employable when they arrive at their first unit. We will see how that works. This is just the rumour of the month.
MC
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Thanks for the information guys, as someone who is trying to get into this trade this information is extremely useful!
Hi all,
I'm the training coordinator for my unit and I'm having a '' Professional Argument '' with my Base Surgeon on the day to day application of the new protocols for the QL3/QL5 Med Tech.
I'm looking for information on how it is being fielded on other bases/wings to give me ammo for the uphill battle I'm getting myself into.
Any information on how it works elsewhere will greatly help me.
Thanks
I'm the training coordinator for my unit and I'm having a '' Professional Argument '' with my Base Surgeon on the day to day application of the new protocols for the QL3/QL5 Med Tech.
I'm looking for information on how it is being fielded on other bases/wings to give me ammo for the uphill battle I'm getting myself into.
Any information on how it works elsewhere will greatly help me.
Thanks
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Cdn_Medic said:
One question with two connotations: Why are you having this discussion with the Base Surgeon?
A. As a Cpl QL5 Med Tech, the discussion is academic, because you are only allowed to provide medical care in the manner prescribed by those protocols and the training you have received within the CAF.
B. the Base Surg has the right to remove, but not add to, the protocols delegated to the various levels of medical providers under his direction.
And finally, The protocols are there for your benefit when no other SMA is present. If there is a SMA present, such as in a CDU, then your role is as is directed by that SMA.
I guess I could have been a bit clearer in my first post. I'm having this argument with my base surgeon on how we will implement the new protocols. My understanding is that once it is approved by the surg gen, it's approved for use everywhere as long as proper training is given.
Is take is that since we provide ambulance services on the base and that we could treat civilians, and that we transfer our patients to civilian hospital, we are only to use Provincial ambulance protocols.
Hence why I'm looking at how it's being implimented on other bases and wings.
P.s. Sorry for the poor formating, I'm on my phone
Is take is that since we provide ambulance services on the base and that we could treat civilians, and that we transfer our patients to civilian hospital, we are only to use Provincial ambulance protocols.
Hence why I'm looking at how it's being implimented on other bases and wings.
P.s. Sorry for the poor formating, I'm on my phone
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Not sure if it helps or not but Sar Techs do not follow provincial protocols and deal with civilians/transfer to civ hospitals near 100% of the time.
Edit - I should add that that being said they are based off BC ambulance protocols and used nationally.
Edit - I should add that that being said they are based off BC ambulance protocols and used nationally.
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Cdn_Medic said:
From your profile, the Province of Alberta would be your provincial regulator.
These references are from the Ambulance Act of Ontario.
Land Ambulance Services
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_000257_e.htm#BK3
Air Ambulance Services
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_000257_e.htm#BK4
Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care ( MOHLTC ) approval to CAF attached.
Guess I was in need of profile updating lol, I not at 1 Fd Amb anymore, I'm in Quebec now.
Thanks for the info happy, I work alot with the SAR Techs but never taught to use them as an argument!
If I were in Alberta, in Ontario or Saskatchewan I wouldn't mind using the provincial protocols even if I don't agree with the triple standards, but since I'm in Quebec and that the protocols here are retarded, I'm willing to put in the extra effort of convincing the chain of command.
Thanks for the info happy, I work alot with the SAR Techs but never taught to use them as an argument!
If I were in Alberta, in Ontario or Saskatchewan I wouldn't mind using the provincial protocols even if I don't agree with the triple standards, but since I'm in Quebec and that the protocols here are retarded, I'm willing to put in the extra effort of convincing the chain of command.
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You are employed by the CAF, you should use the provided protocols. To deviate from those invites accusations of negligence against you without top cover from the crown, as you are not licenced in the province you practice.
Edit to add: see point a. above.
Edit to add: see point a. above.
