job description is to assess the medical needs of the sick or injured and provide immediate care, Once this assessment takes place, they perform whatever medical assistance is needed as long as it's within the scope of their training. EMTs are trained to Basic Life Support (BLS) treatments,
Perform CPR and use an AED
Bandage wounds
Stabilize head and neck injuries
Stabilize broken bones
Resuscitate drowning victims
Provide oxygen to patients
Perform emergency childbirth procedures
Assess health emergencies
Administer certain medications like naloxone, epinepherine and albuterol
In the majority of emergencies, BLS care is enough to manage patients until they arrive at the hospital.
What type of emergencies do EMTs respond to?
In EMS, the majority of calls will fall into either medical or trauma. Medical calls involve things like:
Heart attacks
Strokes
Complications from diabetes
Severe allergic reactions
Labor and delivery
Septic shock
Hypothermia
Trauma calls usually involve an accident or physical injury. EMTs will respond to car crashes, falls, bar fights, and sports injuries. Unfortunately mass casualty incidents require EMS providers to train with police and other agencies to be prepared to triage and treat multiple critical patients in dangerous scenes.
EMTs also assist in childbirth and help people with mental disorders in need of medical assistance.
EMTs may also respond to calls that are stranger than fiction. When entering the scene of an emergency, EMS providers must be prepared to deal with whatever comes their way.
What does an average EMT’s day look like?
EMT shifts can run from 8 to 48 hours (with a couple days off after), but their rotations are rarely the same week-to-week. The schedule can be refreshing for people who don’t like working a standard 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. job.
While transporting a patient to the hospital, EMTs must communicate with medical staff about their patient’s condition and what treatments they have provided. For example, it must be reported when an emergency EpiPen is given to a patient suffering a severe allergic reaction.
After responding to a call, EMTs fill out a report describing the incident. These records are stored in case a call must be investigated for medical or legal reasons.
In between responding to emergencies, EMTs are required to clean and disinfect their ambulance and replace any supplies they used.
Otherwise, the downtime in between calls and administrative duties can be filled with reading, Netflix, making meals, or sleeping.
How long does it take to get EMT certified?
Many community colleges offer EMT courses that last about five months, the length of a semester. These classes are taught by former EMTs, paramedics and firefighters, who will share their career experiences and knowledge with new students. Aspiring EMTs will also learn practical skills such as working with an oxygen tank and how to splint broken bones.
EMT certification could as little as three weeks if you find a very intensive, abbreviated course. However, students without background knowledge in medicine or anatomy may struggle to learn all of the material in such a short amount of time.
Once you pass a practical skills exam and work