New palliative care training for paramedics gaining momentum B.C. Interior

KAMLOOPS – A pilot project launched through Pallium Canada has hit Kamloops and the organization’s CEO says other cities in the B.C. Interior can expect to see the training implemented in the future.

It’s called the Learning Essential Approach to Palliative Care paramedic program, or LEAP, and it gives emergency health professionals the skills and resources to care for patients with life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses.

“If a paramedic was to visit a patient in their home by going through (the program) they are given the competencies to deal with certain symptoms a patient may be experiencing,” Pallium Canada CEO Jeffrey Moat says. “It could be pain, nausea, delirium, some psycho-social distress… so instead of the paramedic transporting that patient to hospital, they actually have the skills to treat many of these problems.”

The program was initially piloted several years ago in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Moat says.

The non-profit organization conducted a survey and found the majority of family members and patients stated their preferred location of palliative care treatment was in their home.

“It increases paramedics’ comfort and confidence in delivering better palliative care and from a systemic standpoint it saves money because it reduces the number of patients coming into the emergency department,” Moat says.

Currently, Kamloops paramedics are the first to receive the training. The program is a flexible blended program that includes both online and face-to-face learning components. The training takes participants through different topics such as advanced care planning, modules on pain and palliative emergencies.

“This is something that is very applicable very early in the course of an illness,” Moat says. “Most people, when we talk about palliative care, they think the last few weeks or maybe last month if life… but the reality is palliative care should be administered as soon as a life-limiting or threatening illness has been diagnosed.”

Moat says the paramedics who have taken part in the pilot project find the training rewarding.

“More patients are able to be treated at home and not transported to the emergency department,” he says.

The goal is to eventually have the training become a norm with all health care professionals, not just paramedics.

“If you have a paramedic that delivers the palliative care approach but that approach isn’t adopted by nurses or doctors you can see where there is a disconnect,” Moat says. “That’s why it’s important all health care professionals receive this training.”

The training has already been made available in cities across the eastern provinces.

“This is happening right across the country. There is this momentum that is being created,” Moat says. “I don’t know why the (B.C.) Interior has kind of hit the ball and really run with it but whenever you see a movement of this nature it needs to start somewhere and the Interior has really picked it up.”

The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement are the two organizations providing funding to more than 5,000 paramedics across Canada to receive the palliative care training. Together, the two groups have provided $5.5 million.

“Think about how rewarding that is. You can either become a resource that transports the patient to hospital to receive treatment or you can become empowered and actually perform the majority of care to the patient in the comfort of their own home,” Moat says. “It’s rewarding for the paramedic, it’s rewarding to the patient and it's rewarding to the system because it's saving the system money.”

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