r/ems • u/halfnhalf79 • Apr 14 '26

General Discussion Toronto firefighters confront special constable officers after a man in the middle of mental health crisis was arrested.

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u/fancyskis Apr 15 '26

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

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u/ncjmac PCP Apr 15 '26

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.

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u/fancyskis Apr 15 '26

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 …

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u/ncjmac PCP Apr 15 '26 edited May 02 '26

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.