Saskatchewan searching for solution to paramedic shortage

While Saskatchewan people have been saved by paramedics across the province for decades, it’s now the paramedics asking for help.

Diana Woytiuk and her husband have owned Blaine Lake Ambulance for nearly 25 years. What used to be a fully staffed service has turned into a skeleton crew of first responders.

“I have three employees right now,” Woytiuk said. “This isn’t just a Blaine Lake problem, this is across the province. We are hurting for people, and it doesn’t seem to matter.”

Woytiuk believes the Canadian Organization of Paramedic Regulators (COPR) Examinations is to blame. She said after paramedics graduate they can apply to be restricted primary care paramedics, meaning they can get out in the field — but they need supervision.

She believes if temporary non-restricted licences were to be issued to graduates, they could get right to work.

But the college of paramedics believes a shortcut to Saskatchewan regulations would keep patients on the stretcher.

“It’s not good enough to have people out there simply because we are so short and we will take anybody,” Jacquie Messer-Lepage, the executive director of the Saskatchewan College of Paramedics, said.

The process of writing the COPR exam can be a lengthy process, as the test is only offered four times a year, and 30 per cent of first-time exam takers fail.

But the college is standing firm — it wants quality over quantity.

“It’s not OK to eliminate this requirement to expedite people into a workforce,” Messer-Lepage said.

The Ministry of Health said there is a high demand for paramedics in Saskatchewan and is offering bursaries to bring people in.

“To attract paramedics to EMS, Saskatchewan is offering bursaries ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to students and new graduates of Primary Care Paramedic and Advanced Care Paramedic programs,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

“Primary Care Paramedic training seats at Saskatchewan Polytechnic and Saskatchewan’s regional colleges are also being increased from 152 to 252.”

For Woytiuk, however, there isn’t enough being done.

“You watch this industry slowly being squeezed and you watch it slowly die,” she said. “All I can say is wow. This has to be the worst. We have been through some tough times, but this has to be the worst.”