A new bursary program for future paramedics was introduced this week by the province.
It’s expected to help with recruitment to fill the around 200 current openings in the province.
Twenty-year paramedic Joel Mattatall also founded Omni Life Support and OCS Academy, which offers emergency response training.
He says it’s a very gratifying career, “I don’t think there’s any better job. I get to go around my community for 12 hours a day, and help people. So every day, you’re making a real difference, a tangible difference. Just to share a story as a side note. It’s pretty amazing to be in line at Costco waiting for a hot dog and meet someone whose life you saved. That happened to me about two months ago.”
He says the program he runs was fortunate enough to be full last year, but there are still spaces for the next intake in August.
Mattatall says they just launched a second campus in Miramichi because they were suffering from delayed response times and a lack of staff.
RELATED: Provincial investment to help recruit N.B. paramedics
This week, the province announced a $6.5 million investment in bursaries to reimburse primary care and advanced care paramedics and emergency medical technician students who train in New Brunswick. They must commit to a return-of-service contract with Ambulance New Brunswick.
Primary care paramedic and advanced care paramedic bursary recipients must sign a two-year return-of-service agreement, while emergency medical technicians must sign a one-year agreement. The first half of the bursary will be paid when they begin working, and the second half will be paid upon completion of their return-of-service.
