It's Paramedic Services Week. It’s something different every week, isn’t it? Unlike others, this week’s celebration does not revolve around a favourite food or pastime. I would never take away from the other festivities, but this week is special to me. First responders, dispatchers and healthcare professionals are not easily replaced.
A reality check for some: paramedics are there to help you on your first, worst and sometimes your last day. Like it or not, that’s the truth. In a recent public opinion poll, Canadians ranked paramedics as the most respected job, ahead of other responders and professions. That’s a first.
Beyond the rhetorical pursuits of writing a book about a career in the emergency medical services lay the underlying desire to share the experience with curious readers who think they know and understand what paramedics do serving the public. Passing glimpses of medics at an accident or with a patient on the sidewalk can’t begin to paint an accurate picture of the lengths caregivers go to treat a victim of an illness or injury. Emergency scenes portrayed by the media are challenging to translate to print or videos with a message that does responders justice. The exception: taking a media representative along for a shift to see firsthand what a paramedic does to earn their keep. I cherish the three occasions that I delivered that experience.
Ambulance drivers in the early days (we were not paramedics) entered the career with a minimum of education. It was a jumping-off point to a future in policing or firefighting for some. Faces came and went with the change in seasons. The government offered up minimal training that covered the basics, barely. Honest appraisals by the new casualty care attendants referred to the process as “scoop and run.”
Things changed when our Ministry of Health joined forces with the Ministry of Education and drafted a syllabus with community colleges—out popped a one-year Ambulance and Emergency Care course that has since been expanded to a two-year program. At first glance from the outside, healthcare consumers would think, wow, that’s great. Not by a longshot. That was only the start. Paramedics will tell you, including the ancients like the author, that our overseers, the base hospital folks, lead the process of continuing education today. It never stops.
Over twenty-five years ago, what had been a “study, or pilot” program in the provincial air ambulances and Toronto was formalized. Training began for paramedics to enhance their skills to provide advanced life support. Standing orders to care for complex ailments and injuries empowered paramedics to carry out patient care in the streets and your home, which dwarfed previous versions of pre-hospital care. What started in the USA as a “mother may I" process, having to ask for permission to carry out an advanced procedure was quickly surpassed to empower Ontario caregivers with authority to complete advanced care based on their training and judgement. When medics ran out of options, only then did they speak to a physician over a radio or phone to confer with their colleagues for a final assault on medical problems—a much more efficient process.
Paramedic education is closely driven by the ongoing review of the specific care delivered to Ontarians and intensive research to improve the outcomes. The evidence is collected, giving physicians, paramedic educators and community colleges the proof they need to change the policies, procedures, and skill sets that paramedics bring to you every day. Nothing is static. Your care changes for the better as soon as evidence proves it. The responsibility of that constant improvement is daunting, and paramedics deliver on those advances.
Citizens of Ontario, you are very fortunate to have one of the best pre-hospital care delivery systems out there. That’s not to say there are no shortfalls within healthcare. Problems exist at the next level in our hospital system, an argument best left to the politicos and their June election. I hope the outcome has a positive effect on healthcare.
If you were shopping for a reason to recognize the effort and dedication of paramedics, I hope this helps.
Remember: when you see a paramedic, thank a paramedic.
Hey Darbs, great encapsulation of the recent(?) history of EMS. It's only going to get more involved from here, and undoubtedly will save many more lives in the future. It is truly amazing how many lives EMS save a year in our mid sized community. Clearly EMS is the greatest contributor to lives saved, and, I think, at a huge emotional cost to the those that provide the service.