The Regional Paramedic Program for Eastern Ontario (RPPEO) is excited to announce the return of Trauma Days for 2025! Following another year of success, Eric Gagnon is back to deliver his popular and informative Trauma Day Continuing Medical Education (CME) sessions.

The online module for RPPEO's Spring 2025 Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is now available on MedicLEARN!

All Advanced Care Paramedics and those Primary Care Paramedics participating in Spring CME are encouraged to complete the online portion as soon as you can. The module available on MedicLEARN must be complete before paramedics undertake the classroom portion. 

This year’s CME, "The Competency Challenge: Mastering Rare but Essential Skills," takes a hybrid approach, blending online learning with hands-on, in-class training. The focus is on building confidence and mastery in high-acuity skills that paramedics must be ready to perform, even if they are used infrequently in the field.

What You’ll Learn

📌 Skill Mastery & Critical Interventions – Practical training in essential paramedic skills.
📌 Cognitive Practice & Visualization – Enhancing performance through mental rehearsal techniques.

Key Skill Areas:
✔ Advanced Airway Management
✔ CVAD Access
✔ Cardioversion
✔ Pacing
✔ Magill Forceps Use

Spring CME launched online on March 31, 2025. The classroom component is scheduled in collaboration with paramedic services and paramedics will receive information on their schedule from their service.

Welcome to the March 2025 issue of MedicNEWS! This edition brings you clinical updates, continuing education opportunities, and system-level developments that impact paramedic practice in our region and beyond.

News Nuggets – Quick, relevant updates from the world of paramedicine, including a critical look at a recent study on physician-paramedic teams and what it really tells us about interdisciplinary care in the field.

Continuing Education – Everything you need to know about Spring 2025 CME, where the focus is on mastering rare but essential skills through hands-on learning and cognitive rehearsal techniques. Plus, we’re excited to announce the return of Trauma Days, now with Level 1 and Level 2 sessions tailored to different experience levels.

Medical Direction: BHP Corner – A deep dive into the complex process of pronouncing death and what paramedics must consider when making this critical determination in the field.

Get Involved – The Ontario Base Hospital Group (OBHG) is seeking Paramedic Advisors to join key committees shaping education, medical direction, and data quality standards. Find out how you can contribute to provincial decision-making.

As always, we want to hear from you! If you come across news items relevant to paramedic clinical care, send them to info@RPPEO.ca with "MedicNEWS" in the subject line.

Enjoy the issue!

Read online or download the PDF version.

The Ontario Base Hospital Group (OBHG) is recruiting Paramedic Advisors to provide frontline paramedic perspectives on key provincial committees. This is an opportunity for paramedics to directly influence education, data quality, and medical advisory decisions that shape paramedic practice across Ontario.

What is OBHG?

OBHG provides medical and operational advice to the Ministry of Health Emergency Health Services Division (MOH EHS). Paramedics are essential members of OBHG committees, ensuring that policy and clinical decisions reflect the realities of prehospital care.

Which Committees Need Paramedic Advisors?

1. Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) – Advises on patient care, leadership, funding, and EMS operations.
2. Data Quality Management (DQM) Subcommittee – Oversees paramedic data collection and reporting standards.
3. Education Subcommittee (ESC) – Reviews paramedic education standards and delivery.

Why Get Involved?

• Represent frontline paramedics and ensure your voice is heard at the provincial level.
• Help shape paramedic education, clinical guidelines, and data quality initiatives.
• Gain experience in leadership, policy development, and system-level decision-making.

Who Can Apply?

• Active Primary or Advanced Care Paramedics with several years of experience.
• Candidates should have a letter of support from their Regional Base Hospital and EMS service.
• OBHG aims for diverse representation from urban and rural paramedic services across Ontario.

What’s the Commitment?

• Three-year term (with flexibility for career changes).
• Attendance at quarterly in-person meetings plus additional teleconferences as needed.
• Travel expenses for meetings may be reimbursed, but the role is voluntary.

How to Apply

Applicants must submit:

✔ A cover letter outlining their paramedic level, region, and interest in specific committees.

✔ A brief CV summarizing their experience.

✔ Letters of support from their EMS employer, Base Hospital, and at least one paramedic colleague.

Applications are due March 12, 2025. They open every three years. If you’re interested in contributing to provincial decision-making and paramedic practice improvements, this is your chance to step forward.

For full details, see the official call for applications in the PDF below!

OBHG_Paramedic_Advisor_Invitation_Memo_2025.pdf

The Spring 2025 Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is launching on March 31, 2025, bringing a high-impact, skills-focused training experience designed to help paramedics refine rare but essential interventions.

This year’s CME, "The Competency Challenge: Mastering Rare but Essential Skills," takes a hybrid approach, blending online learning with hands-on, in-class training. The focus is on building confidence and mastery in high-acuity skills that paramedics must be ready to perform, even if they are used infrequently in the field.

What You’ll Learn

📌 Skill Mastery & Critical Interventions – Practical training in essential paramedic skills.
📌 Cognitive Practice & Visualization – Enhancing performance through mental rehearsal techniques.

Key Skill Areas:
✔ Advanced Airway Management
✔ CVAD Access
✔ Cardioversion
✔ Pacing
✔ Magill Forceps Use

What’s New: Reintroducing Evaluation

This year, RPPEO is reintroducing an evaluation component during the in-class practical sessions. This is not a test, but a formative process designed to:

✔ Support skill retention with structured observation and feedback.
✔ Ensure paramedics maintain competency in infrequently used interventions.
✔ Promote accountability in skill development and patient care.

How to Participate

📧 Check Your Email
All paramedics will receive the Spring 2025 CME Launch Letter in their RPPEO-registered email inbox. Be sure to review it for full details.

🚑 Complete the Online Module
The Spring 2025 CME online module will be available in MedicLEARN starting March 31, 2025.

📝 Attend In-Person Training
Your paramedic service will coordinate scheduling for the in-class component, where you’ll apply your learning through case studies, scenarios, and hands-on practice.

✅ Mandatory for ACPs, Recommended for PCPs
All ACPs must complete Spring CME as part of their Maintenance of Certification requirements. PCPs are encouraged to participate to enhance their skill set.

📄 Read the Full Launch Letter
For complete details, download the Spring 2025 CME Launch Letter.

📢 Questions? Contact the RPPEO Education Team by email education@RPPEO.ca.

The Ontario Ministry of Health has not yet announced the release of ALS PCS v.5.4.

While the update was originally expected to take effect in February 2025, the release timeline remains uncertain. Until ALS PCS v.5.4 is formally published, paramedics should continue to follow the current ALS PCS v.5.3 directives.

For updates, please monitor the Ministry of Health’s Paramedic Practice Documents.

The Online Medical Consultation (OMC) service is supporting paramedicine in our region with real-time physician consultation for paramedics during patient care. To further enhance the use of this critical service, we are thrilled to announce the launch of the OMC YouTube Channel.

This dedicated platform features the OMC Video Series, designed to empower paramedics and Base Hospital Physicians with practical insights, actionable tips, and tools for optimizing OMC consultations. Whether you're navigating complex cases, refining communication during consultations, or staying updated on best practices, these videos are tailored to meet your needs.

In this issue

• Continuing Education: Unlock 18 hours of elective CME credit available online with just a few clicks, including insightful Critical Levels podcasts. Discover how to enhance your educational journey this year.
• Medical Direction – Feedback for Growth: Dr. Mike Austin takes you into the science and art of giving and receiving feedback, featuring two fascinating paramedic characters, Alex and Brenda, and their post-call reflections. Learn how constructive dialogue can transform patient outcomes and team dynamics.
• Certification – January 31 Deadline: The clock is ticking for your Maintenance of Certification. Get advice on meeting the deadline. And, learn about new Suboxone authorization that expands your scope of practice.
• Pharmacology Resources: Navigate medication information with ease using Health Canada’s Drug Product Database and RPPEO’s Drug Availability Database (DAD). These tools are designed to support informed clinical decisions.

• Paramedics with disabilities can request accommodations for barriers they encounter in certification, education, or other RPPEO services.
• Each request will be evaluated individually, and appropriate accommodations will be determined collaboratively.
• The policy is available on RPPEO.ca in the Policy section.

The latest MedicNEWS issue is live, bringing paramedics valuable updates, case studies, and new tools to support practice! As a result of the audience survey feedback earlier this year, we're on an improvement trajectory for MedicNEWS.  This issue includes more case studies, as requested, and we’re adding more summaries of the longer articles like you’ll see below.

Here’s a peek at what’s inside this month’s edition:

• Meet Your Base Hospital Physician Team 🩺
  Discover the physicians supporting paramedics through the Online Medical Consultation (OMC) project. Learn more about the expertise of your BHPs and how they’re dedicated to helping you provide top-notch patient care.
• Certification Notifications Made Easy 📧
  Starting November 12, MedicNET will keep you on track with automated email notifications for each MoC milestone you complete. Check out how this new feature simplifies maintaining your annual certification!
• BHP Corner: Morbidity & Mortality Case Review ⚕️
  Gain insights into managing informed patient refusals and learn strategies to overcome common clinical biases. This review explores an intricate case and reminds us of the importance of thorough documentation and unbiased patient assessment.

👉 Click here to read the full issue on Sway

This MedicNEWS issue is packed with resources and insights to support paramedic clinical development and enhance patient care.