The duties of a paramedic make it a very stressful job. A Paramedic or Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) stabilizes and transports patients in an ambulance to the nearest hospital for proper treatment. Properly certified paramedics can resuscitate a patient, use a defibrillator, control bleeding, prevent shock, splint of bones, and more until the patient can get proper, further medical treatment. Paramedics transport patients via ambulance to a hospital. They are typically the first to arrive on the scene when an emergency call is received.
Paramedics must work under extreme pressure. If they don't act quickly enough, the patient they are meant to save can die. While trying to assess and stabilize the patient they may have to deal with extreme conditions. Paramedics respond to calls about fires, natural disasters, car accidents, domestic violence complaints, and other dangerous incidents, sometimes arriving before police and other emergency personnel. Being in these situations can be scary, dangerous and stressful as the paramedic must work to help the patient and keep himself or herself safe.
There are usually a crew of paramedics that show up to the scene of an emergency with a stocked ambulance, holding (at least) first aid kits and equipment, a bed, oxygen machines, EKG machines, defibrillators, and x-ray machines, to name a few. When a paramedic arrives to a call they must first check the patient's injuries, checking their airway, breathing and circulation (life threatening issues); they then start the appropriate course of treatment. The paramedic will then strap the patient to a backboard to keep them still and stabilized while on the fast and sometimes bumpy ride to the hospital.
A person must attend a community college, university or technical school that offers the proper EMT training to be certified as a paramedic. A person must complete three levels of training: EMT basic, EMT intermediate, and EMT-P (advanced level). EMT-P is the highest level, requiring 1000 or more hours of study. The EMT-P training takes anywhere from one to two years to complete, and it's the equivalent of an Associate's degree. A certified EMT-P is the only paramedic that can administer medication intravenously, x-ray a patient, and set bones. Clinical and field experience is also required to obtain the EMT-P certification, but the number of hours required may vary depending on different states.
One thing all states require, though, is for paramedics to pass the National Registry of Emergency Technicians written and practical tests to obtain their certification. But it doesn't end there. After the NREMT tests have been passed, paramedics must undergo and complete ongoing training regularly to keep their certification. The medical field changes quickly, as do laws. Paramedics have not always been a part of first responders. It wasn't until the 1970s that EMTs became a part of the front-line emergency teams. They are still a new concept, and the things they are able to do in the field or ambulance are expanding with their training. Just 30 year ago ambulances didn't carry the equipment they have now, for instance, which left paramedics limited. But as technology and medical knowledge expand, so do a paramedic's duties.
Paramedics must work under extreme pressure. If they don't act quickly enough, the patient they are meant to save can die. While trying to assess and stabilize the patient they may have to deal with extreme conditions. Paramedics respond to calls about fires, natural disasters, car accidents, domestic violence complaints, and other dangerous incidents, sometimes arriving before police and other emergency personnel. Being in these situations can be scary, dangerous and stressful as the paramedic must work to help the patient and keep himself or herself safe.
There are usually a crew of paramedics that show up to the scene of an emergency with a stocked ambulance, holding (at least) first aid kits and equipment, a bed, oxygen machines, EKG machines, defibrillators, and x-ray machines, to name a few. When a paramedic arrives to a call they must first check the patient's injuries, checking their airway, breathing and circulation (life threatening issues); they then start the appropriate course of treatment. The paramedic will then strap the patient to a backboard to keep them still and stabilized while on the fast and sometimes bumpy ride to the hospital.
A person must attend a community college, university or technical school that offers the proper EMT training to be certified as a paramedic. A person must complete three levels of training: EMT basic, EMT intermediate, and EMT-P (advanced level). EMT-P is the highest level, requiring 1000 or more hours of study. The EMT-P training takes anywhere from one to two years to complete, and it's the equivalent of an Associate's degree. A certified EMT-P is the only paramedic that can administer medication intravenously, x-ray a patient, and set bones. Clinical and field experience is also required to obtain the EMT-P certification, but the number of hours required may vary depending on different states.
One thing all states require, though, is for paramedics to pass the National Registry of Emergency Technicians written and practical tests to obtain their certification. But it doesn't end there. After the NREMT tests have been passed, paramedics must undergo and complete ongoing training regularly to keep their certification. The medical field changes quickly, as do laws. Paramedics have not always been a part of first responders. It wasn't until the 1970s that EMTs became a part of the front-line emergency teams. They are still a new concept, and the things they are able to do in the field or ambulance are expanding with their training. Just 30 year ago ambulances didn't carry the equipment they have now, for instance, which left paramedics limited. But as technology and medical knowledge expand, so do a paramedic's duties.
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if you are interested to learn more about paramedics and their salaries, please visit paramedic job description page or paramedic salary page at health care salary world
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