DrAquafresh793

Hey, just wanted to say hi! I'm an Advanced care paramedic (ACP) in Canada, keep fighting the good fight and stay healthy. PTSD is pretty big lately with us and we've had a string of first responders committing suicide in our province. People are pretty ill informed that our job has the highest rate of PTSD above all other jobs and it might be worth talking about here on reddit?

http://m.vice.com/en_ca/read/canadian-paramedics-are-the-most-likely-citizens-to-develop-ptsd

Will add to this, I'm a paramedic in Canada and I make 40$/hr. It's a career and we're highly trained. Different states/provinces have different training standards and therefore different pay grades.

Thanks for the kind words. No one I know personally but as you know we're all a tight knit community. Stay safe.

Uhh it can be pretty tedious and varies province to province. In Ontario our PCP (primary care paramedic) is our lowest training level and from what I understand is a bit more training than an EMT in the states. For them it's a two year course at a college. After that it is ACP (advanced care paramedic) which is what level I am. You have to do an additional 2 years at some schools or 12 months Straight at others, also because we're fighting with the government to get a college of paramedics (and are therefore more consistency across the province) some schools offer a degree once you're at the ACP level and others don't. Our highest level is CCP (critical care paramedic) and their scope of practice is just insane. If you're wondering what our scope is up here I'll add the link to what the government says we can and can not do. Hope that helps!

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public%5Cprogram/ehs/leg/reg_257_00.html

Just to add if you clicked the link what ever level you are you can use the scope of the level above you if you're certified by your doctor and service to do so. So for example I'm able to do cricothyrotomies, needle decompressions, and manual defibrillation even though I'm an ACP. Which is pretty standard stuff.