Bringing the PHECC Paramedic licence to Canada

subscriber

Hi folks,

I am a qualified PHECC registered paramedic here in ireland and I am considering uprooting and emigrating to Canada with a vision of working in the one of the many Ambulance Service's over there. From what i can gather after a small bit of research, they have four clinical grades over there:

Emergency Responder
Primary Care Paramedic
Advanced Care Paramedic
Critical Care Paramedic.

These clinical grades seem to be the four blanket qualifications across all states of the country yet some differences seem to exist within specific services. Ie. A Primary Care Paramedic in Toronto may hold a higher set of clinical skills in comparison with a Primary Care Paramedic in Vancouver, whilst it seems possible for both these people to hold the same clinical title. This is my understanding of it after some research anyway.

There also does not appear to be a national regulatory body that award the qualifications, similar to us having PHECC in Ireland. The qualifications seem to be awarded from several sources including universities, in house training within services and on occasion also through private companies. It seems to me that the titles for clinical levels ie. Primary Care or Advanced Care Paramedic seems to be used quite loosely.

The Canadian clinical grade that seems to be closest to our PHECC Paramedic title is the Primary Care Paramedic but of course there are some differences. There PCP's seem to carry fluid administration and cannulation as standard as well as a few additional medications such as thiamine, ipratropium bromide, gravol and benadryl. Of course this list is not exhaustive as the skill set of the PCP seems to vary slightly from state to state. It would be possible im sure to upskill somewhat here in Ireland privately by paying for cannulation courses or even intubation courses but I cant see myself being able to get any recognition for training with any of the above mentioned medications as some of them are not used in Ireland in the prehospital environment even at Advanced Paramedic level.

I can only imagine, similar to the USA, that applications to work within the ambulance services in Canada would have to be made to individual services themselves within cities or towns on a case by case basis which I can only imagine would be a nightmare. All the same, there seems to be some fantastic career opportunities over there and salary looks very lucrative for skilled EMS workers in some cases beginning at 50k for PCP level and 70K for ACP. There are also some other areas outside of specific ambulance services that pay very well such as oil rigs and mine fields which personally would not interest me but could potentially be something to consider anyway.

I would appreciate it if anyone else that has ever looked into the EMS life in Canada or just had any more information on it would let me know. Also, feel free to correct any information i have been misguided on or have misunderstood about working over there.

truebluesac

Before you head over do these courses

ACLS , AMLS , PHTLS , cannulation
these are international recognised courses

If and when you apply to a service provider they will do an introduction course that may fill in the blanks if not a conversion course may be needed ,

What i would say is that medications are just medications even if differntly named you may have 4-5 new ones to learn or readjust old administration dosages but they all follow the same learning process

Name
Class
Description
Indication
Contraindication
Usual dosage
Side effects
Other info

You could learn 1 per night and they would all be learnt in a week

subscriber

thanks for your reply, sorry so late getting back.

It would seem, from a bit of research that not just canada but a lot of other countries have a higher basic skill set in comparison with that of the irish paramedic. The basic paramedic skills in other countries such as the UK and australia seem to fall somewhere between our paramedic and advanced paramedic skills. Its unfortunate as if a person wanted to work abroad with the phecc paramedic licence, in most other countries, we would only be licenced to do AS3 / transport / taxi runs and such.

Anyway, more upskilling before I go anywhere seems to be the way to go. I see u mentioned a few courses above but what kind of qualification or recognition is given from these courses? Will they be universally recognised, and do you know of any reputable course providers?

truebluesac

If interested get these courses which are recognised , it is very important who certifies the course or who issues the cert

ACLS run by many and certifieted by american heart assoaiation aha
PALS run by medical certified by aha
AMLS run by medical certified by an american emt college
PHTLS certified by international trauma life support providers ITLS

There are other coursesyou would need these can be costly . So weigh up your options .if you Could start as a patient transport and up skill while there that could be a better option ,

I know 1 irish EMT here that went to america and upskilled in pittsburg and is now 2years layer a criticle care paramedic with the coast gaurd , im sure theres similar in canada