People’s lives often depend on the quick reaction and competent care of emergency medical technicians (EMT’s) and paramedics—EMT’s with additional advanced training to perform more difficult pre-hospital medical procedures like automobile accidents, heart attacks, drowning, childbirth, and gunshot wounds etc; all require immediate medical attention. EMT’s and paramedics provide this vital attention as they care for the people and transport the sick or injured ones to a medical facility and give a proper medical treatment.
In an emergency, EMT’s and paramedics typically are dispatched to the scene by a 911 operator, and often work with police and fire department personnel. Once they arrive, they determine the nature and extent of the patient’s condition while trying to ascertain whether the patient has preexisting medical problems. Following strict rules and guidelines, they give appropriate emergency care and, when necessary, transport the patient to a better medical place. Some paramedics or EMT’s are trained to treat patients with minor injuries and wounds on the scene of an accident or at their home without transporting them to a medical facility. Emergency treatment for more complicated problems is carried out under the direction of medical doctors by radio preceding or during transport.
EMT’s and paramedics may use special equipment, such as backboards, to immobilize patients before placing them on stretchers and securing them in the ambulance for transport to a medical facility. Usually, one EMT or paramedic drives while the other monitors the patient’s vital signs and gives additional care as needed. Some EMT’s work as a part of the flight crew of helicopters that transport critically ill or injured patients to hospital trauma centers.
At the medical facility, EMT’s and paramedics help transfer patients to the emergency department or Intensive care unit, report their observations and actions to emergency room staff, and may provide additional emergency treatment. After each run, EMT’s and paramedics replaces used equipments and go for the new and better ones. If a transported patient had a contagious disease, EMT’s and paramedics decontaminate the interior of the ambulance and report cases to the proper authorities.
Beyond these general duties, the specific responsibilities of EMT’s and paramedics depend on their level of qualification and training. To determine this, the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) registers emergency medical service (EMS) providers at four levels:
(1) First Responder,
(2) EMT-Basic,
(3) EMT-Intermediate,
(4) EMT-Paramedic.
Some States, however, do their own certification and use numeric ratings from 1 to 4 to distinguish levels of proficiency.
The lowest-level workers—First Responders—are trained to provide basic emergency medical care because they tend to be the first persons to arrive at the scene of an incident or the place of accident. Many firefighters, police officers, and other emergency workers have this level of training.
The EMT-Basic, also known as EMT-1, represents the first component of the emergency medical technician system. An EMT-1 is trained to care for patients at the scene of an accident and while transporting patients by an ambulance to the hospital under medical direction. The EMT-1 has the emergency skills to assess a patient’s condition and manage respiratory, cardiac, and trauma emergencies.
The EMT-Intermediate (EMT-2 and EMT-3) has more advanced training that allows the administration of intravenous fluids, the use of manual defibrillators to give lifesaving shocks to a stopped heart, and the application of advanced airway techniques and equipment to assist patients experiencing respiratory emergencies.
EMT-Paramedics (EMT-4) provide the most extensive pre-hospital care to the injured or wounded patients. In addition to carrying out the procedures already described, paramedics may administer drugs orally and intravenously, interpret electro-cardiograms (EKGs), perform end tracheal intubations, and use monitors and other complex equipment to save the patients.
Article provided by Future-tech Inc.
