View From the Legislature

I had the pleasure of meeting last week with representatives of the Manitoba Paramedic Association at my office in the Manitoba Legislature to hear of the changing nature of their profession and its importance to Manitobans.

For many in Manitoba, paramedics are often the first line of medical care they receive in the case of an emergency. No longer are paramedics only equipped to transport patients from the scene of an emergency to a hospital. Today, paramedics are trained and equipped in such a way that they can often provide medical treatment that is the difference between life and death. Paramedics are often relied upon to make complicated medical diagnosis and deliver treatment.

This is especially true for advanced care paramedics that take specialized training. With so many emergency rooms closed in rural Manitoba and overcrowded in other places, paramedic care is a more critical part of the healthcare system than ever before.

Paramedics respond both by ground, on ambulance, and in some cases by air through air ambulance. Their profession has changed greatly over the years and the advancements benefit those in need of emergency care in Manitoba. But there is much more that could be done to improve their effectiveness in the healthcare system.

Some of those improvements are operational. Far too often paramedics are forced to wait at emergency rooms for hours because the patients that they are bringing cannot be admitted to emergency rooms due to overcrowding. This costs the medical system millions of dollars and it means that those ambulances and paramedics are not available to respond to other emergencies. It also puts patients at risk. This and other challenges paramedics face have been studied but, unfortunately, the NDP have been slow to act on solutions.

Because of the quality of care that paramedics provide, many believe it would be in the public interest to make the paramedic occupation self-regulated. Self-regulation of the paramedic profession would allow paramedics to standardize practice, formulate codes of conduct and enhance professional training and development. Currently, paramedics are under regulations that are enforced by the Manitoba Health Emergency Medical Services Branch but it does not allow for the type of public accountability that is generally expected for health care professions.

Manitoba Progressive Conservatives have repeatedly said, and it was repeated again this past week, that we support self-regulation for paramedics. It would ensure that the profession reaches its full potential and highest standard and it would put the needs of patients first.

The profession of paramedicine has changed enormously over the years. It is important that the regulations and laws that govern the profession advance as well to keep patients as safe as possible.