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EMTs, paramedics employ many skills in their job
Theresa Seraphim
for Spotlight
As Luc Soucy answers a question during an interview, his radio goes off.
Soucy, a paramedic, and Emergency Medical Technician Bethany Moore leap to their feet and rush out of Slave Lake’s ambulance base to the patient, as fellow EMT Roland Mandau sees them off and poses for a few pictures.
The call, which involves air ambulance, is just one that Soucy, who is based in Valleyview, and Moore, who is based in High Prairie, will handle during this and other shifts.
Situations could include overdoses, angina, heart attacks and interfacility transfers. “Most of our calls are medically based,” says Soucy.
A 9-1-1 call will go to the dispatch centre in Peace River. The appropriate ambulance base is notified and EMTs prepare to leave while the dispatcher gets information on the situation.
If it sounds very serious, and is a distance from Slave Lake, a Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society helicopter may be dispatched (Slave Lake is the only base in the area that has a plane).
“In general, we’ll always bring a person back to the hospital to be stabilized,” says Moore.
In 2007, Zone 2 EMS – comprising High Prairie, McLennan, Valley- view and Fox Creek – responded to more than 3,500 ground emergency calls and patient transfers.
Besides ground ambulance (which was taken over by Alberta Health Services this past spring) and air ambulance, some paramedics work in industrial/workplace settings, as remote sites may be required by Occupational Health and Safety to have a registered EMR, EMT or paramedic on site.
All personnel start out as Emergency Medical Responders (EMR) by taking a three-week course.
Most progress to the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) level, which involves an eight-month course with practicum, and some go on to become paramedics.
The total time from EMR to paramedic is three and a half years, says Soucy.
“To be eligible to work on the ambulance, practitioners (at all levels) have to be registered with the Alberta College of Paramedics, and must pass the provincial registry exam to qualify,” says Moore.
All three categories employ different skill levels.
“EMTs can start IVs (and) administer some emergency meds,” says Soucy.
Paramedics have the highest skill level.
“You can do anything an RN can do,” including medication, intubations, and intraosseous IV (in the bone), says Soucy.
Anyone at all three levels can defibrillate someone, Moore adds.
Soucy’s interest in this line of work was piqued in his time with the Smoky River Fire Department. As first responders, his department worked closely with Emergency Medical Services.
“I did some ridealongs and it went from there,” he says.
Moore says she was prompted to become an EMT through her former lines of work.
“As a teenager, I was a lifeguard and a ski patroller.”
So what characteristics does a person need to be a good EMR, EMT or paramedic?
“You definitely have to think on your feet,” says Soucy.
“You need the ability to stay calm in stressful situations and you have to be able to adapt to shift work,” adds Moore.
Communication skills, especially with patients, are vital, she says.
“As first responders, a lot of times we’re the first contact for social services (like police or social services).”
As new drugs and procedures become available, a willingness to keep up-to-date on developments is crucial, says Soucy.
“Compassion is important, and not becoming jaded in situations,” notes Moore. She and Soucy say new EMTs are exposed to the job slowly, by shadowing more experienced responders, and each one comes to know which situations are hardest and ways of coping with them.
Paramedics begin their practicums in hospital – in almost every area, says Soucy – before going into ambulances.
He says his greatest reward is seeing the difference in a patient from the time he deals with them to the time they are released from hospital.
“To me, it’s just rewarding when the patient comes up (and says), ‘Thank you. If it hadn’t been for you guys, I don’t know what I would have done.’”
That thank you, by the way, often comes in the form of cards and food.
Moore says EMTs have one ambition when it comes to patients.
“We get the person to hospital safely and hopefully in a better condition than we found them.”
For Soucy, the most challenging aspect is dealing with situations where a chronically ill person wishes to die at home but their family wants them to go to the hospital.
“I explain to the family that this is the normal process of dying,” he says.
Moore says exposure to many kinds of social problems is the greatest challenge for her.
“It’s definitely a part of the job,” she says.
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Roland Mandau uses a radio. EMTs carry radios, by which dispatch alerts them to situations where their help is needed.
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EMT Joe Rozon brings a stretcher out of the ambulance. Rozon and his cohorts are ready to respond instantly to a situation.
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Roland Mandau works one of the computers at the base. The machines are used to store information and to keep track of calls.
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EMT Roland Mandau stands by one of the ambulances at the Slave Lake base. Three ambulances are available to serve the public.
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