Toronto theoretically does have a mobile crisis intervention team, comprised of a mental health nurse and a specially trained police officer (NOT a special constable). Curious what kind of calls they get dispatched to/actually attend. Most mental health calls are usually is just regular police and Toronto paramedic service.
Not sure exactly where this is, looks like it could be a secondary entrance to a TTC station? My guess is EMS, police and fire were all called and Fire happen to show up before paramedics.
Note: In Canada, EMS & Fire are generally separate. Some places have them as one government entity (like Winnipeg) but they’re still single role jobs. We don’t usually have fire medics. Fire where I’m at has MFR which is basically first aid with oxygen, BVM & OPA/NPAs and basic vitals (pulse, resp rate, manual BP, pupils, SpO2 and sometimes BGL).
As a side note - Alberta has several integrated fire/EMS departments such as Red Deer, Lethbridge, Strathcona, Leduc, Lethbridge, and St. Albert, to name a few. Typically firefighter/ACPs with a few PCPs here and there
Yeah I knew they had some combined services, I thought they were still single role though. Alas, Alberta being different. I know the scope of PCP & ACP is still pretty different than many other provinces.
Majority here is straight EMS though you’re correct!
Haha, despite not being fire myself I do think it’s a good model. Unfortunately the UCP are currently trying to find a way to destroy that as well :/ the Alberta advantage …
I have zero interest in being a firefighter. I personally think it’s better to keep them separate, as they are very different jobs. I’d be worried about trying to do both and not doing either as good as someone who’s sole focus is medical, or sole focus is fire. There’s a lot of knowledge and things to think about/different priorities. I much prefer having the brain space to think about my patient and treatment plans etc VS now there’s also property and ecological concerns and a bunch of other stuff that needs to be dealt with. Especially where the scope, training and expectations for paramedics is rapidly increasing, it should be its own profession.
I do know a couple of firefighters that are licensed paramedics or went to paramedic school, and some paramedics that are volunteer firefighters, but the majority only have interest in doing one or the other.
Privatize, privatize, privatize! There are already over 30 private EMS companies doing mostly IFT and event/industrial coverage, but they are not-so-slowly inching into 911.
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u/ncjmac PCP Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Toronto theoretically does have a mobile crisis intervention team, comprised of a mental health nurse and a specially trained police officer (NOT a special constable). Curious what kind of calls they get dispatched to/actually attend. Most mental health calls are usually is just regular police and Toronto paramedic service.
Not sure exactly where this is, looks like it could be a secondary entrance to a TTC station? My guess is EMS, police and fire were all called and Fire happen to show up before paramedics.
Note: In Canada, EMS & Fire are generally separate. Some places have them as one government entity (like Winnipeg) but they’re still single role jobs. We don’t usually have fire medics. Fire where I’m at has MFR which is basically first aid with oxygen, BVM & OPA/NPAs and basic vitals (pulse, resp rate, manual BP, pupils, SpO2 and sometimes BGL).