What Do Paramedics Do?
Paramedics are crucial to the success of virtually any regional health services team, and instrumental in the health and safety of a community.
These first responders are often the first medically trained people to see a person in crisis. Their decisions about next steps and course of immediate care may save lives. Becoming a paramedic is a great responsibility and an excellent way to work with the community, save lives, and serve people on a daily basis.
A Paramedic’s Typical Day
A typical day in the life of a paramedic is atypical. That is, there is no way to predict what sort of calls a paramedic will respond to on a given day, how severe the scene may be, or what will be required of each paramedic in the field. Paramedics work out of hospitals, private health agencies, major metropolitan areas’ fire departments and other, and smaller government-run agencies like standalone first aid squads, – to name a few. On any given day, a paramedic might be dispatched to a motor vehicle crash, an accident at home, a natural disaster, structural failing, or even a restaurant where a person has an unexpected health event. Paramedics’ training and continued hands-on learning in the field equips them with the skills to respond to each of these scenarios as appropriate, and each response may be different from the last.
In the field, paramedics’ primary concern is to stabilize a patient and safely transport him or her to the hospital. Their work might include detecting blockages and clearing airways, resuscitating patients through CPR or other methods, assisting with childbirth, poisoning and overdose intervention, shock treatment, burn management, and much more. Paramedics in certain regions may see a few types of calls more frequently than others—say, a tornado zone would likely have a higher rate of people being hit with falling debris, or community with a much higher elder population might see more strokes and heart attacks—but every day on the job is different.
How to Become a Paramedic
Earn your credentials to take the national paramedic registry exam at HCI in as little as one year. Learn more about the program here.
