EMS-EMT
Eric Michel Ministries International FAICL-EMS Chaplaincy Mission:
“To come alongside first responders who experience extraordinary human events daily and to offer them emotional and spiritual support services.”
We provide on-scene (and “behind the scene”) Crisis Chaplaincy for emergency workers (first responders). Our emphasis is on Critical Incident Stress mitigation.
Our services
are offered without regard to religious affiliation. We intervene with responders on issues such as; fatalities involving children, multiple fatality accidents, deaths of co-workers, marital problems, substance abuse issues and the like.
A paramedic is a healthcare professional whose primary role is to provide advanced emergency medical care for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical system.
Not all ambulance personnel are paramedics. In English-speaking countries, there is an official distinction between paramedics and emergency medical technicians (or emergency care assistants), in which paramedics have additional educational requirements and scope of practice.
Star of Life
The paramedic role is closely related to other healthcare positions, especially the emergency medical technician, with paramedics often being at a higher grade with more responsibility and autonomy following substantially greater education and training. The primary role of a paramedic is to stabilize people with life-threatening injuries and transport these patients to a higher level of care (typically an emergency department). Due to the nature of their job, paramedics work in many environments, including roadways, people's homes, and, depending on their qualifications, wilderness environments, hospitals, aircraft, and SWAT teams during police operations. Paramedics also work in non-emergency situations, such as transporting chronically ill patients to and from treatment centers and, in some areas, address social determinants of health and provide in-home care to ill patients at risk of hospitalization (a practice known as community paramedicine).
The role of a paramedic varies widely across the world, as EMS providers operate with many different models of care. In the Anglo-American model, paramedics are autonomous decision-makers. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom and South Africa, the paramedic role has developed into an autonomous health profession. In the Franco-German model, ambulance care is led by physicians. In some versions of this model, such as in France, there is no direct equivalent to a paramedic. Ambulance staff have either the more advanced qualifications of a physician or less advanced training in first aid. Paramedics exist in other versions of the Franco-German model, such as Germany. Their role is to support a physician in the field in a role more akin to a hospital nurse rather than operating with clinical autonomy.
The profession's development has gradually moved from simply transporting patients to hospitals to more advanced treatments in the field. In some countries, the paramedic may take on the role as part of a system to prevent hospitalization entirely and, through practitioners, can prescribe certain medications or undertake 'see and refer' visits, where the paramedic directly refers a patient to specialist services without taking them to hospital.
Paramedics are exposed to various hazards, such as lifting patients and equipment, treating those with infectious diseases, handling hazardous substances, and transporting them via ground or air vehicles. Employers can prevent occupational illness or injury by providing safe patient handling equipment, implementing a training program to educate paramedics on job hazards, and supplying PPE such as respirators, gloves, and isolation gowns when dealing with biological hazards.
Infectious disease has become a significant concern in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies and organizations have issued guidance regarding workplace hazard controls for COVID-19. Some specific recommendations include modified call queries, symptom screening, universal PPE use, hand hygiene, physical distancing, and stringent disinfection protocols. Research on ambulance ventilation systems found that aerosols often recirculate throughout the compartment, creating a health hazard for paramedics when transporting sick patients capable of airborne transmission. Unidirectional airflow design can better protect workers.
Paramedics in Canada
A paramedic is a healthcare professional who provides pre-hospital assessment and medical care to people with acute illnesses or injuries. In Canada, the title paramedic generally refers to those working on land or air ambulances providing paramedic services. Paramedics are increasingly being utilized in hospitals, emergency rooms, clinics and community health care services by providing care in collaboration with registered nurses, registered/licensed practical nurses and registered respiratory therapists.
In Canada, the scope of practice of paramedics and emergency medical responders is described by the National Occupational Competency Profile (NOCP) document developed by the Paramedic Association of Canada with financial support from the Government of Canada. The NOCP outlines four provider levels:
Emergency Medical Responder (EMR),
Primary Care Paramedic (PCP),
Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP),
and Critical Care Paramedic (CCP)
How much does an ambulance trip cost?
For Quebec and Canadian residents, the basic fee is $125 plus $1.75/km from the point of pick-up to the destination. There is a $35/person charge for each additional person transported in the ambulance for all ambulance trips.
The fee for a typical ambulance service is $240. However, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) covers most of this fee if ambulance travel is medically necessary. As a result, Ontario residents with a valid Ontario health card would pay only a portion of the total cost of $45 (called a “co-payment”).
Al 911 call requires transport to the hospital by ambulance, so you will receive an invoice. The fee for ambulance service for New Brunswick residents is $130.60.
Nova Scotians with a valid health card: $146.55
Ambulance fees for people with a valid Prince Edward Island health card are 75 percent subsidized by the provincial government. The current subsidized rate is $150.00. The fees are a flat rate.
Newfoundland and Labrador Ambulance Base Rate - $125 Administration Fee per trip
Kilometer rate - $1.84 per kilometer
Le terme paramédic identifie au Canada, les praticiens œuvrant dans les services ambulanciers. Ce terme réfère à une fonction de soins, et certains actes médicaux lui sont autorisés.
Il y a consensus à l’effet que le terme technicien ambulancier paramédic, qui est le seul titre d'emploi utilisé pour désigner les travailleurs du domaine, soit plus représentatif de la réalité des pratiques de cette profession que le terme « technicien ambulancier »
Le métier de technicien ambulancier est en constante évolution au Canada.
Au Québec, le titre d'emploi technicien ambulancier a été modifié pour celui de technicien ambulancier/paramédic en mars 2008 à la suite de la signature d'un nouveau contrat de travail entre les différents syndicats de techniciens ambulanciers/paramédics, les entreprises privées ou coopératives de services préhospitaliers, la Corporation d'urgences-santé et le gouvernement du Québec. Toutefois, le terme largement utilisé pour désigner le technicien ambulancier/paramédic au Québec est tout simplement celui de paramédic et cela, à l'image de ce qui se fait dans une grande partie de la communauté internationale pour désigner ces professionnels des soins médicaux d'urgence.
Les tâches du paramédic québécois ont beaucoup évolué depuis plus ou moins 15 ans, mais davantage depuis 8 ans avec l'arrivée des 6 médicaments administrés par ces derniers (Nitroglycérine, Acide
Acétylsalicylique, Salbutamol, Épinephrine, Glucagon et Naloxone). Précédemment à l'arrivée des 5 médicaments, la défibrillation, la ventilation par Combitube (marque déposée) (appareil fabriqué principalement pour les soins préhospitaliers) et l'implantation d'un moniteur défibrillateur semi-automatique (MDSA) plus performant ont été autant d'actes médicaux délégués aux paramédics, à la fois par le Collège des médecins et par le Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux. Tous les protocoles de soins primaires pratiqués par les paramédics au Québec se font sous l'autorité du directeur médical régional et autorisés par la table provinciale des coordonnateurs médicaux.
