Education Communications Speech

Emergency medical response is not for the faint of heart. Practicing empathy while dissociating
yourself from the events going on around oneself is an ability that one must come to rely on. As your
adrenaline kicks in, and it always will, one must remain calm and collected while working as fast and
precisely as possible. Some one’s life could depend on it.

Good morning everyone, my name is Cody and I am here today to tell you about Emergency
Medical Services in Alberta, and the practices employed by the first responders in the province.

As most of us know, medical practices fall under the provincial government, and it laws, This is
no exception for Paramedicine. In Alberta, all medical responders are under the council of the Alberta
College of Paramedics (which I will refer to as ACP from this point on) who work closely with Alberta
Health Services to set regulatory standards. To practice in the province, responders must remain
registered with ACP, paying a (large) fee every year. Ask any responder and they are sure to complain
about the price, and most likely the college itself.

As paramedicine is constantly changing and evolving, the practice of continuing competence

has been implemented, this is so all responders meet a required amount of credits every two years to
maintain their membership within the college. This ensures that all medics remain up to date on
changing practices, laws and regulations within the discipline.

In Alberta, EMS is practiced in three levels: Emergency Medical Responder, Primary Care
Paramedic and Advanced Care Paramedic, though each title is usually referred to under the acronyms
EMR, PCP, and ACP. The last two titles are recent changes – PCP was referred to as EMT, Emergency
Medical Technician, and ACP were known as EMT-P, Emergency Medical Technologist – Paramedic,
known to most as Paramedic – which an umbrella term people have adopted to incorrectly identify all
paramedicine practitioners.

Each level of paramedicine employs a particular scope of practice they are allowed to utilize and
stepping out of that scope can lead to severe liability charges, as well as ejection from ACP. EMRs
require the least in-class time of the group, with the amount of learning time increases for each level.
This increase in times accounts for the interventions an individual can perform on a patient.

All responders have friendly competition among themselves, but also understand the power of
working cooperatively. At one point during my emergency response career, a partner of mine and I were
waiting in the hospital with a patient of ours – along with a host of other medics and patients – and a
paramedic, who must have been aware that many of us could only administer nitrous oxide – began
going to each team to offer their patient morphine if needed. The patients were happy (very happy),
and those waiting in triage all had a good ol’ morphine party.

The role each level plays also affects classification of ambulances as well. If you look on the sides
of ambulances as they shoot past like hell on wheels, on most you will be able to identify their levels.
BLS – Basic Life Support, are EMS primary cars – they contain at least one PCP, but often times also
include an EMR as the support partner, though some BLS carry two PCP and no EMR. ALS – Advanced life
support - require at least one ACP and will have either a PCP or another ACP as their support partner.
Two medics on one car is the general rule of thumb, however some do have 3 practitioners aboard,
often times a practicum student.
 Other vehicles you may encounter can be equipped to more specialized tasks, like that of stroke
or cardiac response. In Alberta, AHS work alongside 33 other contracted ground ambulance services like
Guardian, and Alliance, which are easy to spot within Red Deer. Nova Chemicals, my previous employer,
is contracted under AHS and provides medical and fire assistance within the plant, and a 5 km area
surrounding the site.

Arguably the most important response vehicles in Alberta can be found in helicopter
ambulances. These response vehicles are a life-line to many, able to transport patients at rapid rates and
house extremely adept Paramedic and doctors aboard. Responsible for numerous life-saving
interventions, STARS is known by pretty much every Albertan – though not as well known is what the
acronym stands for, which is Shock Trauma Aerial Response Society.

Lesser known, but just as important is HERO, our Northern Albertan counterpart to STARS –
Helicopter Emergency Response Organization.

Both provide vital interventions which help save lives everyday. Supporting STARS and HERO
helps to ensure this remains a dependable institution, so next time you are asked to donate make sure
to keep in mind your contribution could help save a life.

Lastly, I need to speak on an important subject pertaining to First Responders. First responders
are human, and what is seen in these professions has the capacity to bring down any one of them. PTSD
is a common occurrence for medics, firefighters and police officers - and in 2018, suicide rates are 5
times higher among these workers than the national average. These people are your sisters, brothers,
they are fathers and daughters, mothers and sons. They are friends, and they are co-workers, and
chances are, you will require their assistance at some point in your life. I ask you please be supportive,
practice empathy, and don’t ask them about the worst or craziest thing they have seen. If they wish to
talk about that, they will. Fortunately, recognition of PTSD and burnout is becoming more prevalent, and
the culture of immovable stoic responder is being transformed with more focus on mental health
everyday. I have provided phone numbers in the final slide for crises intervention.

Thank you for listening to my speech today, and I hope it has illuminated some lesser known aspects of
Emergency Medical Response in Alberta.