Paramedicine in Ontario...
Paramedics in Ontario work as part of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care Emergency Health Services branch (Ministry of Health, 2020). They are responsible for creation and maintenance of paramedic standards of practice. All paramedics in Ontario must have; passed the Advanced Emergency Medical Care Assistant (AEMCA) exam, been hired by a certified ambulance service, and been certified by a medical director of a regional base hospital program. Additionally, they must meet the qualifications set out by The Ambulance Act: O.Reg 257/00 (2020).
It is under the Ambulance Act that paramedics are allowed to perform medically delegated acts; such as performing manual external defibrillation, administration of medication, and starting intravenous therapy (Ministry of Health, 2018).
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Paramedic Skills
Paramedics in Ontario follow the guidelines as set out by the Advanced Life Support Patient Care Standards and Basic Life Support Patient Care Standards (Emergency Health Regulatory and Accountability Branch Ministry of Health, 2019; 2016). These documents are legally binding, living documents that are constantly being updated to reflect best practice based on current research and developments in the health field. Paramedics scope of practice extend past that of basic first aid, including; administration of intramuscular and intravenous drugs, manual alignment of traumatic injuries, interpreting ECGs, and developing working diagnosis of patient conditions and transporting to the most appropriate hospital. The field is moving from a practice of technicians to clinicians.
