REGINA – A certified hearing-aid practitioner says people, especially seniors, are at risk because of poor education requirements for those who sell hearing aids in Saskatchewan.
“It’s scary because basically what this is leading up to is a situation where you have people that are running around unqualified in a field that is necessary to have educational standards, especially when you’re dealing with such a vulnerable sector that really does not, in a lot of cases, speak up as loud as they what should,” said Ron Schick.
“That’s a grave concern.”
Schick says he quit “in a form of protest” about five months because he was seeing “horrific” things.
In one case, Schick says a woman brought her elderly father in to get a second opinion about a hearing aid because the man’s ear hurt.
Schick says a hearing aid salesperson told her father that the hearing aid was too tight and they “ground it down and put it back it in.”
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“When I looked in (his eardrum), I found a severe middle ear infection. The eardrum was already perforated with blood and pus on the outside,” said Schick.
Schick says the current rules allow someone to sell hearing aids in Saskatchewan if they complete about 160 hours of supervision at a hearing-aid business and pass an open book exam.
But he says other provinces require at minimum a two-year hearing-aid practitioner diploma.
The issue came up in the legislature Tuesday when the Opposition NDP questioned why draft regulations were introduced two years ago, but still haven’t been implemented.
Health Minister Dustin Duncan said regulations are coming this summer for hearing-aid sales, but education requirements haven’t been worked out yet.
Duncan said there’s “a wide gap” in what those in the industry want to see in the regulations. Part of the problem is deciding what education rules should be in place for those already selling hearing aids.
“At this point we haven’t settled on a compromise,” said Duncan.
“I think that’s what’s taken the time to get to this point is what do you do with the individuals that don’t have the minimum two years of education. There are many people that are practising in this field that wouldn’t have that educational background.”
“I would be leaning towards ensuring that, first of all, new people entering the field have the minimum two years and that existing individuals that are in the field would at least, at a minimum, be able to challenge the (exams),” he added.
The diploma program is not offered in Saskatchewan. Duncan is trying to find out if people would be able to take the tests in other provinces.
Schick says what businesses want shouldn’t hold up rules that will protect the public.
“My point in the matter is in the meantime, you have 350,000 to 400,000 seniors that basically may be looked after by someone that would not be qualified to do that in any other province,” said Schick.
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