| If you are looking for a rewarding and challenging | | | | pilot or other part of the medical flight team which |
| career in which people's lives depend upon your skill | | | | helicopters seriously injured or ill patients to trauma |
| and knowledge, than think about becoming an | | | | centers. EMT's are also charged with the mundane |
| emergency medical technician or paramedic in a | | | | duties of cleaning and restocking the ambulance after |
| medical scrub. EMT's and paramedics are often | | | | each use. |
| dispatched by 911 operators as part of the team | | | | Becoming an EMT or paramedic requires certification |
| responding to an emergency. They work closely with | | | | after a period of formal training. Entering an EMT / |
| police and firefighter personnel and often find | | | | Paramedic program requires a high school diploma, and |
| themselves treating victims of accidents, shootings, | | | | these programs are usually two-year courses leading |
| drownings, heart attacks, and other situations requiring | | | | to an associate degree. However, the type and length |
| immediate medical attention. Besides the excitement | | | | of training required for certification varies from state to |
| and challenge, it is expected that the demand for | | | | state, and can be anywhere from thirty to three |
| EMT's and paramedics will increase much faster than | | | | hundred hours in length. After completing the training |
| the average in the coming decade, so there will | | | | and taking the NREMT certifying exam, the graduate is |
| always be a high demand for trained and experienced | | | | certified by the state and ready to go to work. EMT's |
| EMT / paramedics, particularly by hospitals and | | | | in both women's and mens scrubs with advanced |
| ambulance services. | | | | certification will reap the greatest opportunities, |
| Upon arriving at the scene, the first thing EMT's must | | | | particular in urban areas (in rural areas and small towns |
| do is assess the conditions of the patients in order to | | | | volunteer EMT's and firemen are the rule). To obtain |
| determine the extent and cause of the illness or | | | | employment with a city government requires U.S. |
| injuries. Then, the EMT's provide immediate medical | | | | citizenship as well as passing a background check. |
| care and transport the patients to the hospital in an | | | | The Bureau of Labor Statistics considers that the |
| ambulance. En route EMT's maintain a close contact | | | | outlook for EMT / paramedic jobs excellent since |
| with emergency room physicians, who issue them | | | | health care jobs continue to grow even when the |
| step-by-step instructions while they relay back | | | | economy is down. The demand for EMT / paramedics |
| assessment results from their medical monitors. EMT's | | | | increases as medical technology advances and more |
| are trained in a variety of medical procedures including | | | | sophisticated life-saving treatments can be given to |
| the treatment of burns, asphyxiation, arterial bleeding, | | | | patients en route to the hospital, which improves their |
| cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, and of course childbirth. | | | | chances of survival. |
| Some EMT jobs in a medical uniform involve being a | | | | |