Emergency Medical Technicians

What they do

• Administer first aid treatment or life support care to sick or injured persons in prehospital settings.
• Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
• Attend training classes to maintain certification licensure, keep abreast of new developments in the field, or maintain existing knowledge.
• Comfort and reassure patients.
• Communicate with dispatchers or treatment center personnel to provide information about situation, to arrange reception of survivors, or to receive instructions for further treatment.
• Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
• Decontaminate ambulance interior following treatment of patient with infectious disease, and report case to proper authorities.
• Drive mobile intensive care unit to specified location, following instructions from emergency medical dispatcher.
• Immobilize patient for placement on stretcher and ambulance transport, using backboard or other spinal immobilization device.
• Maintain vehicles and medical and communication equipment, and replenish first aid equipment and supplies.