Hello everyone, I hope you’ve all been enjoying the warmer weather.
Have you visited the member site lately? In 2022, the College launched a second website just for members where we can provide information relevant to members’ practice. This includes topics like continuing competence details and activities, conduct information on what a member can expect if they find themselves in the complaint process, practice guidelines and privacy issues like protecting members’ personal information. Recently, the College has also added a resource on Social Media Guidelines to help guide practitioners on professionally navigating social media platforms. You can access the member site with your regular log-in information at the top left corner of the College’s public site.
While you’re browsing the College resources, don’t forget to check out the Learning Management System (LMS) through your member portal. There are now two free, online courses that all members can complete and claim for CE credits: Regulatory Knowledge and our new course, Pain Management: Methoxyflurane (Penthrox®).
Many current College projects look ahead to the future of paramedicine, but April is also the perfect time to reflect on where the College started. In 1999, the Health Professions Act received royal assent to replace the Health Disciplines Act. One of the conditions of this change was that all organizations responsible for regulating a profession be known as a “college” and so, on April 1, 2000, the Minister of Health approved the name change from Alberta Prehospital Professions Association to the Alberta College of Paramedics (the College). This marks April 1, 2025, as the 25th anniversary of the College officially becoming a regulatory college. This profession continues to grow, and the College is dedicated to growing with it for many more years to come.
We have been working on an exciting new initiative to celebrate this anniversary, which we are looking forward to announcing at this year’s Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM). Save the date; the 2025 AMM goes live May 21 at 1pm. Viewers will get to hear from Council President, Adam Swendsen; Registrar, Tim Ford; and myself. Just like last year, we will also have our live Q&A session available through Pigeonhole so all participants can submit their questions in real time. I encourage everyone to pre-register for it to ensure you have no issues when it goes live. Registration opens on May 1, so watch for more information on how to tune in.
Sincerely,
Wendy Dugas, CEO