FAQs – Getting Hired

The Backcountry Group offers a competitive daily rate starting at $200 per day with an increasing pay scale for experience and months of service. If the company is being paid for a full 12 hour day (which is normally the case) then our medics get full pay for that day even though the actual hours worked could be much shorter. We also take into account travel time and pay overtime for any hours worked beyond the regular 12 hour day. We direct deposit your pay to your bank account while you are in the field.

With the slowdown in the oil and gas industry, medic jobs are hard to come by especially in Alberta. Medic companies are having to drop their prices to win business due to increased competition. With oil prices expected to stay low for the next year or two, we are not foreseeing any major increase in our rates that we charge our clients. We live in a supply and demand world and medic services are no different. We receive resumes from very experienced paramedics who tell us they want to earn $500 to $700 per day as this is what they are used to being paid by industry but there is no way we can pay those daily rates and remain in business for long. Our clients only require OFA3 and while we do prefer to hire employees with higher qualifications like PCP or EMT, we understand that people at that level have higher pay expectations. Please consider this carefully when applying for a position with us, we will invest in our people who make a commitment to long term employment with us. We do not want over qualified people who will leave the moment any higher paying job comes along.

We do not offer hard benefits such as medical or dental as the medic position is not considered as full time employment. However we do have much to offer in the way of soft benefits:

Flexibility: We work very hard to accommodate our employee’s lives outside of work. If a medic needs time off, has a family emergency or just prefers to work a certain schedule we do our best to facilitate this.

Family Support: The industry is known as being hard on families as there are usually long periods of separation involved. We have found that an employee who has strong family support does a better job and is more likely to continue employment than an employee who has little or no support from home.

Family Culture: Backcountry Group started as a family company and we want to retain that culture. To us family is about valuing and caring for people while building relationships that last. We encourage a supportive environment within our company.

Office Contact: Our supervisors are available to our medics in the field to give advice, resolve issues and even for counseling. The health and welfare of our employees is a high priority.
Advancement Opportunities: We recruit employees with talents that are above the basic requirements and we always look within the company first. As we have two different divisions, we are able to provide a wide range of opportunities from management and office staff to instructors and field supervisory positions. There are also opportunities in account management and business development.

Crossover Opportunities: We also hire wildlife safety monitors and will encourage our medics to be trained in this role so they can take opportunities that come available.
Quality equipment and vehicles: All our emergency transportation vehicles are modern 4×4 trucks and our medical treatment centers are stocked with top of the line equipment and supplies.

Feedback: We value the feedback from our staff and we will listen to your recommendations to improve processes in the company and streamline our operations. We realized that people have diverse backgrounds and experiences and we are interested in hearing how we can build a great company that we can all be proud of.

To work as a medic in the field you need to have as a minimum an Occupational First Aid Level Three Certificate or certification that WorksafeBC [WCB] recognizes as an equivalent to the OFA 3. You also require WHMIS, TDG, Wildlife Awareness, H2S, criminal record check, drug and alcohol testing, petroleum safety training, fire extinguisher training, defensive driver training, a valid Class 5 Drivers License and drivers abstract. A complete listing of all required course and certifications is available from Backcountry HR or look on our job description. You must be 21 years of age and legally authorized to work in Canada for any employer. We do not accept temporary foreign workers.

A valid Emergency Medical Assistants license in BC can get you an OFA3 “Paramedic in Industry” certificate by taking a short course. Many first aid agencies in BC offer this course.

http://www2.worksafebc.com/Topics/FirstAid/Certificates-BC.asp?ReportID=33597&_Type=Certificates-Accepted-in-B.C.&_Title=OFA-Level-3-and-Equivalencies .

If you are an out of province paramedic, you would need to transfer your licence to BC first with the Emergency Medical Assistants Licencing Board. When you get your BC licence then you take the Paramedic in Industry certification to get OFA3.

http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/ema/transferring-bc.html

“Out of Jurisdiction” certificates are available for courses from other provinces that are deemed to be equivalent by WorksafeBC.

http://www2.worksafebc.com/Topics/CertificationTraining/Certification.asp?ReportID=35475

If you have any questions, please contact WorksafeBC Certification Services at: 1-888-621-7233.

A complete list of training agencies is available at:

http://www2.worksafebc.com/PDFs/FirstAid/FirstAid_training_providers.pdf

We only hire medics if they have been certified by an agency that has been approved by WorksafeBC. It is your responsibility to ensure your training or out of province certification is valid in BC and we do not get involved on our applicants behalf.

Please contact WorksafeBC or an approved training agency before taking any courses. It is your responsibility to ensure that the course you want to take is recognized.

We require your resume at first, if this is acceptable to our recruiter then you will be sent a secondary screening form to complete and return to HR. Only those applicants considered suitable will be contacted for further processing. We are looking for people with a great attitude and a desire to go to work.

An unrestricted BC class 5 Drivers License ( or provincial equivalent ) is the minimum required, a class 4 is preferred.

You may be given an aptitude test before you come to Prince George. The test is an objective measure of general mental ability and intelligence which predicts successful job performance across a wide variety of situations. You cannot fail the test but your results may be unacceptable to us and you will not be offered a position.

Once you receive a conditional offer of employment we will send you a listing of approved education providers. If you need assistance locating training courses, please contact HR.
Click the link to see the course list form.

http://bcmedic.ca/uploads/3/5/6/5/3565358/bcs_courses.pdf

Quite simply we are looking for people who are committed to go to work in this field. We do not have the budget or desire to train people who are not committed and probably not even start work with us. If someone isn’t willing to invest in their own training and certification, which they can use for any employer, we are not willing to take a chance in the hope things will work out.

While we understand that some other employers will pay for these costs, we have run into situations where applicants are dishonest and will see if they can beat the test. We have experienced this on multiple occasions.

Here is one example: Last season we had an applicant who stated he did not do drugs but we later learned that he was a regular marijuana user. He read online that if he drank a certain liquid then the drug screening would not pick it up. Of course the screening discovered his drug use and his response was “oh well, at least I didn’t have to pay for it”.

By making the financial commitment to paying for your own testing, we know that you are serious about the job. People who would not otherwise pass the screenings will not undertake the effort at their cost when they know it could fail and they will be out of pocket for the expense.  Even if you don’t come to work with us, you still get to keep your results in the form of a certificate. As most employers require these 2 checks as condition of employment, you can re-use it for up to one year.

The testing services are well known in the industry.
http://backcheck.net/ and http://www.cannamm.com

For the last few years, many companies are now getting away from supplying PPE because of the high cost associated with missing, broken and non-returned equipment. If an employee is required to supply their own PPE, they will look after it. We had incidents in the past where staff would lose or damage PPE and not care “because the company will replace it”. When we changed to employee supplied PPE, they seemed to be able to keep it for the full season. The other reason is at the end of employment, the return rates for company purchased PPE was very low.

Click on the link to see a complete equipment list.
http://bcmedic.ca/uploads/3/5/6/5/3565358/bcs_required_personal_protective_equipment.pdf

No. You are responsible for your own travel arrangements and costs. Most medics drive their own vehicle, take the bus or fly.

No, unless you are assigned to work specifically in Prince George the following day and you arrive on the designated travel day. We do not provide accommodations for our staff while waiting for a job to start or if you are in between jobs. All deployments start in the morning of the travel / mobilization day to your work site. For example, if you are working at Buckinghorse River Camp which is a 7.5 hour drive from Prince George, you will pick up your vehicle and supplies around 8am. You are paid from the time you pick up the vehicle and equipment. All time, meals, lodging and travel costs prior to this are the responsibility of the employee. If you live within a few hours of Prince George and your assignment is less than 4 hours from the office, arrangements can be made to pick up the ETV ( Emergency Transport Vehicle also known as MTC or Mobile Treatment Centre ) later in the day so you can drive straight from home, pick up the vehicle and head to camp. As long as your total drive time and vehicle pickup time for the day is less than 12 hours, we will do our best to make it work.

No, the only full time positions in the company are related to office, management and training. All field medic positions are casual / on call and your availability and job performance will determine how much work you get. Moving to the Prince George area will not guarantee you work due to the nature of the industries we serve but doing so will result in you being available for more assignments.

Our main clientele are in the energy industries, mainly oil and gas. We also work in forestry, mining and construction.

Interviews are conducted by HR and are done via video conferencing or over the phone. We do require your full resume and completed secondary screening before an interview will be considered. If your application package is deemed to be suitable, you will be contacted to set up a time.

Not necessarily. We look at your answers carefully then compare them against other candidates. If your answers are weaker than other candidates, we will put you lower on the list and you may never receive a call for an interview. Read the secondary screening in full before filling it out and sending it in. Make sure you fill out the form correctly as we have had incidents in the past where an applicant checked the wrong box and that was enough to defer the application even though they had intended something different. While we don’t expect our applicants to have all of the courses, certification and PPE at the time of application, we are looking for people who are willing to do so. When we ask for details, make sure you answer fully. Limited information means we have little to go on for making a hiring decision.

Click on the link to review the recruiting process:
http://bcmedic.ca/uploads/3/5/6/5/3565358/bcs_medic_recruiting_process.pdf

As a condition of your OFA3 certification, WorksafeBC regulations require that “an attendant must be physically and mentally capable of safely and effectively performing the required duties”.

http://www2.worksafebc.com/Publications/OHSRegulation/WCBStandards.asp?ReportID=33295

You may remember when taking your OFA training you were required to sign a declaration of your physical fitness. Due to the highly physical nature of the job, we have to ensure that you have the level of fitness required to do the job. The HR department will choose from the following evaluations.

NOTE: This is for demonstration purposes only, this is only required if you are offered a position.
Certification of medical fitness: This form is taken to your family doctor to fill out and return to the company. The cost of the report is the responsibility of the applicant.

http://www2.worksafebc.com/PDFs/firstaid/55M5.pdf

Functional Fitness Evaluation: This testing evaluates an applicant’s functional ability to perform specific work tasks to avoid putting that person in danger if he or she can’t physically perform a job. The cost of the testing will be paid for by the applicant.

http://www.cannamm.com/services/functional-fitness-testing/

Medics must be mentally and physically ready to perform their duties each day. You are expected to pass a pre-employment drug and alcohol test prior to an offer of employment. Our clients do not allow alcohol to be consumed while on shift, this means no drinking starting 48 hours before your shift starts until you have completed your complete shift and turned in your vehicle and equipment. Illegal drugs should not be used at any time either on or off duty. While these policies are well advertised, you may very well find people from other companies who choose to ignore it. We get regular reports of people (outside of our company) drinking alcohol and / or using drugs while on shift. We advise our staff members to avoid these people and do not fraternize with them outside of normal work duties. Our drug and alcohol policies allow for company supervisors to request a test sample from you at any time there is an incident such as a car accident or any time where it is suspected that you may be using drugs or alcohol. This is a serious offence and will most likely lead to termination.

The criminal record check is a requirement of our client but further to that, the position of medic is one of great trust with people’s personal information and possibly even their life. If you have a criminal record for which a pardon has not been granted, you are not eligible for employment.

Smoking is highly restricted while you are on shift. There is no smoking inside any accommodations, whether camp or hotel. No smoking in or within 5 meters of company vehicles as they are considered a medical treatment facility. Most importantly and especially, no smoking in the wilderness due to the risk of forest fire. If you do smoke, you should consider this carefully before applying. Violation of this policy will most likely lead to termination.