Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says the province will move ahead self-regulation for paramedics. He released a report Wednesday on how this can be achieved. Goertzen says it's important to develop a system of self-regulation for paramedics similar to other groups in the health care system such as doctors and nurses. He explains this will ensure a high standard of training and accountability.

Goertzen says the government wants to move in this direction because the role of paramedics has changed so much in recent years. The plan is to set up a College of Paramedics similar to the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

"We ask paramedics to do so much more that we did even 10 years ago. The care really starts when a paramedic arrives at your door,” Goertzen says. “It used to be, a couple of decades ago, the paramedics would put you into an ambulance and transport you to the hospital and the care began when you got to the hospital. That's not the case anymore. The care begins when the paramedic arrives and they're trained to provide that care. That training needs to be continued and the college will help them do that as we move forward."

The government will study the report further and then proceed. Goertzen notes it will be important that the college have broad representation from urban and rural areas because the roles of paramedics vary depending on where they work.

"In Winnipeg, the majority of paramedics are cross-trained so they are working both as firefighters and paramedics whereas in the rural settings they are, generally, exclusively paramedics,” the Manitoba Health Minister explains. “But you also have some that are operating more on a part-time or volunteer basis. So they are doing different kinds of work in the province, but how you navigate that is that you want to ensure that there is good cross representation from across the province on the college but also with the different fields within paramedicine."