P.E.I.'s paramedics are now self-regulated, but their union has some concerns

A new regulatory body now oversees paramedics in Prince Edward Island, but some have concerns about a steep hike in its registration fees for the profession.

For more than two decades, paramedics were overseen by the province's Emergency Medical Services Board, until April 1.

That was when the province established the P.E.I. College of Paramedicine to regulate paramedics, formerly known as emergency medical technicians or EMTs.

The college will be a self-regulated body, meaning it will deal with both public and internal complaints, and issue credentials to practice. Self-regulation also allows for an expansion in paramedics' scope of practice, the new college said.

"As an EMT, folks work mainly in ambulances," said the college's registrar Bernie Plourde. "Now, with the incoming of self-regulation, it has expanded their scope of practice — so you might see a paramedic working in long-term care facility, various departments in hospitals, they could be working in a dental office.

"We need more services here on P.E.I. within the health system … while we're keeping the public safe [and] making sure they have the proper credentials to call themselves paramedics."

The establishment of the college brings paramedics under P.E.I.'s Regulated Health Professionals Act, the same legislation that governs most nurses and doctors on the Island. 

The college will be made up of a nine-member board that includes six paramedics and three members of the public, along with the registrar. 

But the college's creation has also come with a steep rise in the annual fee for paramedics to maintain their credentials in the province. That fee will increase from $75 to $475 every year.

That's one change that has P.E.I.'s paramedic union skeptical about the new regulator. 

"With only 180 paramedics on Prince Edward Island, it's very hard to fund our own college," said Jason Woodbury, president of the paramedics' union on the Island. "I don't think we can sustain and fund the college to the best interest of the public, but also to the best interest of the paramedics working here."

He said the union is "not totally against" the college, saying it brings some benefits for a profession he referred to as "the Swiss Army knife of health care."

"We can adapt and we can change," Woodbury said. "But having a college doesn't change what we're going to do or how we're going to do it." 

He argued the changing registration fees and scope of practice means paramedics will also need wage increases to cope with the costs. 

As for the college, its registrar explained the increased fees are necessary to help investigate complaints. 

"Any complaints that come to the college, we have to investigate and that can take some money to do that process," Plourde said. "Under the other act, the government was paying for it, so the taxpayers were paying for the investigations." 

Ploudre said transparency and accountability will be a big part of the new college's mandate.

That means if a paramedic is disciplined, the nature of the complaint and any college rulings will be made public, something occurring in other provinces for years. 

'We know what we do and we do it very well'

The union also expressed concerns Plourde has no background as a paramedic, but only as a professional regulator; he's also the registrar for several other professional colleges, including massage therapy, dental hygiene and speech-language pathology. 

"It can be a little more difficult for someone who is in the profession to regulate their peers if you're having to work shoulder-to-shoulder and then you're having to do an investigation," Plourde said. "The approach that we take is one of curiosity and not being challenging or combative. We need to work together to make sure we're keeping the public safe."

But Woodbury said he hopes to see a paramedic running the college, arguing that's a common practice on other health-care related boards in P.E.I. 

"We know what we do and we know how to do it very well," he said. "I'm afraid that other professions don't understand exactly the capabilities of what our members are doing every day."