Emergency Health Services
Paramedic Practice Documents
The Ministry of Health (MOH), Emergency Health Services (EHS), is responsible under the Ambulance Act for publishing standards for patient care, documentation, safety, equipment requirements and transportation. These requirements are outlined in various paramedic practice documents: Standards, Training Bulletins, Manuals and Guides.
- Standards set the requisites for paramedic practice; many are incorporated by reference in O. Reg 257/00 as made under the Ambulance Act
- Training Bulletins provide clarification regarding current issues or make amendments to existing Standards
- Manuals and Guides further direct practice
Click on the document titles in the tables below to access a copy of the document. If the document is in a non-accessible format, clicking on the link will automatically initiate an email to EHS to allow you to request a copy of the document.
As per Ontario government services standards, all emails will be acknowledged within two business days and answered within 15 business days.
Living Standard Project
In February 2015 a more streamlined process, the Living Standard Project, was established to update, maintain, and disseminate paramedic practice documents. This process recognizes that development and maintenance is a cyclical process in which publication of a revised version is both the end of one process and the start of another. Documents are reviewed on set maintenance cycles, but requests for change can also be made on an ad hoc basis. To request a Change Request Form, please email ParamedicStandards@ontario.ca.
Version numbers may have up to three numeric digits and one alpha value (i.e. 0.0.1.a) depending on the document’s state (but always a minimum of two):
- The first numeric digit will indicate the full update version number
- The second numeric digit will indicate the partial update version number
- The third numeric digit will indicate the update due to a reissue after a publication error (if applicable)
- The alpha value (listed after the numeric digits) will indicate the draft version number (if applicable)
Documents which stakeholders and the public can comment on are posted on the Proposed changes to documents page.
Patient Care Documents incorporated by reference
The Standards listed in this table are incorporated by reference into O. Reg 257/00 as made under the Ambulance Act. Once a new version of a standard comes into force, it replaces the existing, in force version.
| Standards | Version | In Force As Of |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Life Support Patient Care Standards | version 5.1 | February 1, 2023 |
| Ambulance Service Communicable Disease Standards | version 2.1 | March 2, 2022 |
| Basic Life Support Patient Care Standards | ||
| version 3.4 | March 10, 2023 | |
Patient Care Model Standards |
version 1.1 | January 27, 2023 |
| Ontario Ambulance Documentation Standards | version 3.0 | April 1, 2017 |
| Patient Care and Transportation Standards | version 2.7 | August 19, 2022 |
| Provincial Equipment Standards for Ontario Ambulance Services | version 3.7 | February 1, 2023 |
| Ontario Provincial Land Ambulance and Emergency Response Vehicle Standard | version 6.0 | November 1, 2023 |
| Land Ambulance Certification Standards | Version 1.4
|
August 2, 2022 |
Other Patient Care Documents, Manuals and Guides
The documents in the table below provide clarification regarding current issues and also address such things as safety, equipment requirements and additional direction for practice.
| Training Bulletins | Issue Date | In Force As Of |
|---|---|---|
| Training Bulletin No. 101 Influenza Educational Review 2021-2022, version 20.0 |
October 27, 2021 | N/A |
| Training Bulletin No. 120 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), version 1.6 |
October 1, 2020 | N/A |
| Manuals and Guides | Version | In Force As Of |
| COVID-19 Screening Tool for Paramedics | version 2.0 | August 26, 2021 |
| Ambulance Call Report (ACR) Codes | version 3.0 | N/A |
| Ambulance Call Report (ACR) Completion Manual | version 3.0 | April 1, 2017 |
| Infection Prevention and Control Best Practices Manual for Land Ambulance Paramedics | version 1.0 | March 30, 2007 |
| Prehospital CTAS Paramedic Guide | version 2.0 | December 31, 2016 |
Paramedic Practice Documents Archive
Once a new version of a paramedic practice document comes into force, the previous version will be archived here.
To request a copy of any of the archived paramedic practice documents (documents incorporated by reference), click on the document title. If the document is in a non-accessible format, clicking on the link will automatically initiate an email to EHS to allow you to request a copy of the document.
To view Portable Document Format PDF files, you will need to have Adobe Acrobat® Reader installed on your computer. You can download this free software from the Adobe website.
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