What is a Paramedic?
At Middlesex-London Paramedic Service, we have a combined service of both Primary Care Paramedics (PCP) and Advanced Care Paramedics (ACP).
All paramedics provide out-of-hospital care to ill and injured people. Paramedics are graduates of a Community College full-time graduate program dedicated to the Paramedic Profession. The two-year Paramedic Program emphasizes areas of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and mechanisms involved in acute injury and illness.
Upon graduation from a Paramedic Program, the paramedic student must complete the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care provincial certification. This certification, known as the Paramedic exam or Advanced Emergency Medical Care Assistant (A-EMCA) exam, must be successfully completed to practice as a Primary Care Paramedic in Ontario. In addition, a paramedic must be authorized by a medical director of a Regional Base Hospital (RBH) to perform controlled medical acts. In Middlesex-London Paramedic Service, all paramedics are certified under the South West Ontario Regional Base Hospital Program.
A level of paramedic is specified in Ontario Regulation257/00 made under the Ambulance Act, RSO 1990, c A‐19. Schedules 1, 2 and 3 to this regulation specify the mandatory controlled acts for each level of paramedic. Ambulance Act of Ontario
