They say, "If you know one Paramedic service, you know one Paramedic service."
We had something like 50 in Ontario, last time I looked.
And, in the rest of Canada, Paramedics are regulated by their provinces.
What I know of Ontario is that in 1968, the Ministry of Health began to take an interest in how ambulance service was provided. In addition to the establishment of regulations and standards, the MoH began to operate ambulance services in Ontario, either directly, or under contract.
Ontario was under the direction of Dr. N.H. McNally.
In Metro, the Goldenberg Report of 1966 led to the creation of The Department of Emergency Services on 1 Jan., 1967, under the direction of Commissioner John Pollard, a retired army colonel.
The "differences of opinion and philosophies" between Ontario's Dr. McNally ( a medical doctor ) and Metro's Commissioner Pollard ( a retired army colonel ) were highlighted in a Toronto Star article on 5 July, 1973.
Not to say which of them was right. But, their "differences of opinion and philosophies" were profound.
Among other things, Metro ambulance were of a different type and color than the provincial units.
I worked for "the Colonel", so naturally, I was influenced by his opinions and philosophies. I guess being fresh out of high school, and a young reservist, I was pretty "moldable"
Those who worked in the rest of the province under Dr. McNally I am sure must have their own opinions.
The community colleges were not involved in training back then.
Ontario recruits were sent to CFB Borden, to be trained by provincial instructors.
Metro recruits were trained in Metro, by our own instructors.
Not to suggest one school was better or worse than the other. Just different.
One thing back then, Metro had a Residency Requirement to join. There were no "lateral transfers."
So, you never really learned of any other way of doing things.
For us probies, under the watchful eyes of the '46'ers ( WW2 vets like Colonel Pollard ) it was, "Do it our way, or the highway.)
