The Cochrane District Paramedic Services is in dire need of paramedics.
In a report presented during the Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board (CDSSAB) meeting on Thursday (Oct. 19), Jean Carriere, the chief paramedic for the Cochrane District EMS, said they urgently require 15 paramedics to meet demands for emergency response and community needs.
“One of the questions that keeps coming up is how many paramedics do you need? Or could you hire some right now? Two years ago, we had 110 paramedics rostered and we are down to 84. So, that gives you an idea,” he said.
“If we want to continue expanding our programs, meeting the needs of our communities, we could hire 40 paramedics. And I'm not saying that's what we budgeted for, but that's the number that we'll be striving for over the next couple of years.”
Carriere said there aren't enough paramedics graduating from programs across the north.
“There was a low intake over the last few years in all of the paramedic programs in Northern Ontario. Through some of our work with the colleges, we've seen their numbers significantly increase,” he said.
“Northern College now has 14 local students in their paramedic program. So, we have a higher chance of retaining those staff once they start working.”
The provincial government has also implemented free tuition for future paramedics studying in Northern Ontario who remain in Northern Ontario, Carriere said.
“So, obviously, we've had an uptake with that,” he said.
The CDSSAB has developed a number of recruitment tactics, including enticing students in the early stages of their careers.
“We're actually enticing them at the student level to come and do their placements here and stay here, not necessarily just when it's time to hire them as paramedics. So, we're hoping that they get a good experience when they come here as students and then they'll stay and work in the area,” he said.
Carriere said they also plan to pay students to come to the region to complete their placement, which would be a first for the province.
“Usually students are doing that on their own time; their second year they have to come and do 500 hours of placement. We're going to interview them, test them, and get them ready for employment. We're going to hire them as students to come and do their placements here and pay them for that with a conditional offer of employment that if they pass their college program and they're certified, they just move right in and keep working for us as paramedics,” he said.
Carriere said they’re also speaking to students in elementary, high school and post-secondary school, in both the French and English sectors.
“And we're doing it with the colleges where we offer an introduction to para-medicine. We're also attending job fairs at the high schools so that they can get exposed to that. But we go a step further where we also go into elementary schools and introduce them to what paramedics are and what we do, so that they get a little bit of a feel of what the profession is,” he said.
After about a decade of not having high school co-op students, that was also reintroduced this year. There are four students doing placements.
Carriere is often is asked why paramedics are leaving the area.
“I can tell you that people are leaving the area not because they're not happy working here. Most, if not all, paramedic services in Ontario are currently hiring, and we have a lot of paramedics that are here from southern Ontario or different parts of Ontario, and they have the opportunity to go back home,” he said.
“We've also had several retirements and we've had people leave the profession wholeheartedly during COVID. So, that all led to the staffing issue that we're having now. And it was compounded by the fact that all paramedic services are feeling the same thing and they're hiring.”
The need is real and profound when it comes to relieving some of the stresses off of their paramedics, Carriere said.
“They've been working and they've been dedicated to your communities and have been providing excellent service. All of our paramedics are working overtime. Our part-time staff actually work more than our full-time staff. They're working on average over 100 hours per pay period,” he said.
“So, you know, kudos to them and the dedication and the great work that they're doing, but that's not sustainable and we realize that. We want to make sure that we try and fill our ranks and entice people to come to Northern Ontario and stay here.”
