Psycho-Motor Driving Skills Training - Employer Update #1
In February of 2025 the Edmonton Zone Joint Workplace Health and Safety committee put forward a recommendation for the employer to develop Ambulance Driving training that would be significantly more in-depth than watching a presentation online (see below). After significant push back and escalation the employer made serious commitments to research and scope out vast improvements to driver training. Here is the first update on the employer’s work so far:
The Literature review detailed work has been completed; current work is underway in July here to conduct a synthesis report of the Literature review and then a recommendations report will be created for the Project Sponsors.
The Literature review was based on the following themes:
EMS Research Team assisted and guided the Project Manager (Shoan O’Connor / and Project Lead (Brent Tario) in conducting a formal Literature Review following standard protocol practices.
Ambulance driver competencies
Ambulance driver training (including Emergency Vehicle Operator Courses – EVOC) and any other best practice ambulance driver training programs
Driving Simulators
Ambulance Collisions
Engagement has been initiated and ongoing with:
EMS Operational Leads
International Academy for Professional Driving (IAPD) our current partner that provides the Vehicle Operator Proficiency Development Evaluation Tool currently used by EMS for new recruits and high-risk drivers to determine additional driver training programs that could be offered, curriculum content, both in vehicle/on track that could be developed or offered
CEVO 5: Ambulance – this program is an EVOC program established by a Vehicle Training Company called Coaching Systems.com and we have been provided full information on this potential program for consideration
Alberta College of Paramedics (ACP) to review/assess current Paramedic program curriculum and requirements offered by the Institutions (NAIT, SAIT, PMA, etc) that already have driver training programs as part of Paramedic programs.
Paramedic Institutions (NAIT, SAIT, PMA) – forthcoming in July – to better understand specific current curriculum content on their driving training programs and what practical in vehicle training/tasks the students perform and on what size/category of vehicle
Private Industry partners that may be able to offer EMS access to a large, flat, closed track skills course in both Calgary/Edmonton and potentially the 3 rural zones as well
AHS medical facilities (Calgary/Edmonton) that currently use Virage Driving Simulators for medical clearance purposes for patients in the process of trying to obtain or requalify for a provincial driver licence.
External agencies that currently, or in the past, used Driving Simulators for Emergency Vehicle Operators and Municipal Drivers operating typical commercial vehicles relevant to a Municipality.
EZ Post CCTS Recruitment – Zone Orientation and Onboarding program that includes driver training components. Work is underway with the EZ program leader to understand all current components and the potential for expansion of that program as part of the overall EMS future ambulance driver training program
Environmental Scan:
The next significant piece of work to be undertaken in July is a larger scale Environmental Scan of Ambulance Operators to assess their operations in alignment with the 5 themes of the Literature review to identify any potential Ambulance industry best practices, learnings, or recommendations that AHS EMS needs to consider
When asked if there is the intention to engage with JWHSC membership and frontline staff as the project progresses:
"Once we complete the Literature review, Environmental scan, Engagement with IAPD to identify EVOC in vehicle on road /on closed track “driver training content/curriculum potential”, Engagement with the ACP College and Paramedic Training Institutions on current programs, potential initial recommendations, we will be able to complete the Objective Statement and Project Deliverable Plan, get the Project Sponsors (Jason Engelland/Mike Plato) to sign off and along with SOT/SLT, then acquire approval to expand the Project Stakeholder group out to those two groups as well as the current CCTS Clinical Educators (24) currently certified by IAPD to conduct the IAPD VOPD program."
EZ EMS JWHSC Recommendation to the Employer - 2025-02-26
Issue
One of the most dangerous and time-consuming aspects of a paramedic’s work involves driving.
Inter-Facility Transfer, and Suburban/Rural crews frequently travel great distances as part of their daily job requirements. These crews also frequently travel busy primary and secondary highways or find themselves on isolated rural roads.
Metro EMS crews face high traffic volumes across a wide-range of road, street, and highway types and face ever-increasing distance to emergency calls as our cities and towns expand beyond the current resource availability.
With increased calls for services, all divisions of AHS EMS are seeing an increase in the amount of time spent driving. To control for this hazard, some form of driver training is required, and the Government of Alberta has recognized that need in legislation.
Alberta's Traffic Safety Act - Vehicle Equipment Regulation mandates that ambulance operators must complete a Professional Driver Improvement Course (PDIC) every 24 months. AHS EMS PDIC provides 8 hours of module-based lectures. This is billed as being approved by Alberta Transportation, meeting all legislative course requirements and also incorporating EMS-specific information into the program. Our shared goal has always been ensuring practitioners receive information that's directly applicable to the unique EMS work environment, however the Edmonton Zone EMS Joint Workplace Health and Safety Committee is concerned that this sit-down, computer-based learning style might not lend itself fully to the reality of our working environment.
While relying solely on an Online, Read-Only, narrated slideshow style education format might be sufficient in some situations, this is not an effective method of training staff to perform complex psycho-motor skills. Sitting in a chair and clicking through multiple computer screens and watching the occasional video does not prepare staff for the real world demands of driving an emergency vehicle in a variety of weather conditions and road types, nor does it ready staff to respond to and from a variety of locations in inclement lighting conditions, while navigating traffic and other obstacles. This didactic method, without any psycho-motor skills component, does not render staff who are suitably competent* to perform Emergency vehicle operations, which is in contradiction of Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act, Chapter O-2.2, s. 1. Breach of this legislative obligation may also render managers and supervisors culpable under Canada’s criminal code for failing to perform their due diligence.
The EZ EMS JWHC is concerned that without fundamental hands-on skills training, there is an increased likelihood of accident and injury to not only front line staff and the patients they may be transporting but also to the public at large. Staff involved in collisions often suffer serious and long-term physical and psychological injury.
Beyond the liability of injury and property damage, these incidents further strain the EMS system by reducing access to emergency vehicles while damaged units are being repaired and replaced. This is compounded by systemic supply-chain issues that limit the turnaround time for newly purchased emergency vehicles to become operational.
All of this is exacerbated by the fact that AHS EMS is seeing an influx of new employees, many of whom are often young and inexperienced staff that may find themselves underprepared to operate an emergency vehicle under optimal conditions, let alone in an emergency situation where a heightened degree of skill and awareness is required. It is also important to note, that without proper skills maintenance, even veteran staff can see a degradation in their ability to perform safe emergency vehicle operations.
One final concern, gathered through discussions with road staff, is the overall decrease in moral that front line staff experience from A) not have rigorous training that they feel they can trust to perform an integral component of their job, and B) the inability to feel trust that unfamiliar co-workers will be able to safely convey them during the response and transport components of their work.
Committee Recommendation
To improve employee safety and reduce the risk of injury or death, the mandatory driver’s education delivery method needs to be altered to incorporate a hands-on / practical psycho-motor skills component which should include:
An extended period of time for new hires to drive ambulances in non-emergent, non operational capacity.
Edmonton Zone Orientation already has multiple decommissioned ambulances that new hires spend time practicing in
Allows new hires to gain vehicle spacial-awareness
An Emergency Vehicle Operations Course
This can be offered in house through Learning and Development or through a contracted/certified external organization, or with Fleet Field trainers
Should teach
Hazard recognition and avoidance / driving obstacle course
Emergency Vehicle Driving (lights and sirens operations)
This may be done via simulation or course track training
Mentoring component
Is able to test and verify that employees are competently trained
Allows for real time correction and improvement of driving habits for new and veteran staff
Be available to all AHS EMS personnel across the province
*Alberta Labour provides a description of characteristics that may be used to describe a worker as “competent”:
“(1) adequately qualified — the worker has some type of qualification, usually earned through a formal education program, training course, etc., or a combination of education and practical experience. With certain exceptions such as professional designations e.g. professional engineer, nurse, physician, etc. or other legal requirements involving qualifications, the employer is responsible for evaluating and deciding if a worker is adequately qualified. ...
(2) suitably trained — the worker must have training that is appropriate to the tasks, equipment, etc., that will be performed or used. ... ; and
(3) with sufficient experience to safely perform work without supervision or with only a minimal degree of supervision — determining whether a worker has sufficient experience to safely perform work is the employer's responsibility. A worker's qualifications, training and experience are no guarantee that work will be performed safely. ... .”
In all cases, Alberta Labour states that it is the employer who should be able to justify the basis on which a worker is considered to be “adequately qualified”, “suitably trained” or “sufficient experience”.
From: Alberta Labour, 2018. OHS Code Explanation Guide 2018 (covering changes effective January 31, 2020) - https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/legisl/legislation/competent.html
