CE> GJ> In Canada it takes about 1500+ hours to get your basic
certification.
CE>    In Ontario it's about 2,000 hours (not including clinical time etc).
CE>Since the certification (at least in Ontario) is done at a Provincial
CE>level, this could be different for every Province.  What are the training
CE>requirements in the various Provinces, and is there any reciprocity?
In Quebec, the training is now of 845 hours, plus five weeks of clinical
training on the ambulance, at 40 hours a week. The training is 100% EMS
related; no philosophy, French or English litterature, maths,etc.
The prerequisites are chemestry, physics, and biology, plus the physical
(which even trained soldiers failed), the medical and last the
psychological profile.
You have to wait about three years before you can pass  the last
three above mentionned, to enter the program. To many candidates, not
enough place in the colleges that give the course, of which there is
only two: Ahunstic in Montreal, Sainte-Foy in Quebec City.
And the course is in French, so you have to speak and read it.
As for reciprocity, i know a lot of EMCAs comme from Ontario to do the
reciprocity tests, and from Europe, mainly Switzerland, Belgium and
France. From what I understand of it, they find it more challenging to
work prehospital in Quebec (read North America, but only here can they
do it in French, no pun intended) and they cannot believe the variety of
calls we do.
The thing is though, that EMCAs have a high failure rate of the
reciprocity exams, more than the Europeans do. After talking with a
representative of the Montreal college, it seems the EMCAs do not have
enough training  in trauma.
My recommendation is that you do the PHTLS course, because since its
introduction in 1992, most of the principles and techniques have been
integrated in the Ambulance Technician program.
I don't know about the other provinces, and for the states, i think that
you have to be at least an EMT-i or CC to be able to do the reciprocity
exams. The prerequisites for the complete course applies for the
reciprocity program.
The main reasons are: they want people that can read, write, and think.
The pay is not bad, i guess. Probie is around $12.50/hr, for three
months, then it goes from $13.50 to $19.00/hr after 12 years of
seniority. They give you credit of years of seniority pay for each year
of experience in relevant fields. Roughly $35000 after 12 years of
service. Firfighters earn $46-49000 and police $51000 a year.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Stephan Gascon
Ambulance Technician
Urgences Sante ( Montreal EMS)
Montreal, Quebec
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 * OLX 2.1 TD * Standard disclaimer: my opinion and MINE alone.
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