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What They Do
About This Career
Administers basic or advanced emergency medical care and assesses injuries and illnesses. May administer medication intravenously, use equipment such as EKGs, or administer advanced life support to sick or injured individuals.
This career is part of the Health Science cluster Therapeutic Services pathway.
A person in this career:
- Administers drugs, orally or by injection, or performs intravenous procedures.
- Administers first aid treatment or life support care to sick or injured persons in prehospital settings.
- Assesses nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
- Attends training classes to maintain certification licensure, keep abreast of new developments in the field, or maintain existing knowledge.
- Comforts and reassures patients.
- Coordinates with treatment center personnel to obtain patients' vital statistics and medical history, to determine the circumstances of the emergency, and to administer emergency treatment.
- Coordinates work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
- Instructs emergency medical response team about emergency interventions to ensure correct application of procedures.
- Observes, records, and reports to physician the patient's condition or injury, the treatment provided, and reactions to drugs or treatment.
- Operates equipment, such as electrocardiograms (EKGs), external defibrillators, or bag valve mask resuscitators, in advanced life support environments.
Working Conditions and Physical Demands
People who do this job report that:
- You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
- Work in this occupation involves bending or twisting your body more than one-third of the time
- Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
- Requires getting into awkward positions
- Exposed to disease and infections more than once a month through work such as patient care, laboratory work, and sanitation control
- Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
- Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
Work Hours and Travel
- Overtime work
- Rotating shift work
- Weekend work
Specialty and Similar Careers
Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:
- First Responder
- Flight Paramedic — Provides safe critical-care and air-medical transport to ill and injured patients.
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts national surveys of wage data by occupation in every state and in all industry divisions. These surveys are conducted through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program.
The statistics collected for one year are published the next fall. For example, 2013 wage information was published in the fall of 2014.
There are over 800 occupations in the surveys, and these occupations cover the entire U.S. labor market. The surveys ask for reports in a scale of ranges for both hourly wages and annual wages.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics for a broad category, be aware that the salary data for a specific career may differ.
For more details about how wage information is collected and calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm.
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts a national survey of over 400,000
employers in every state and in all industry divisions. This survey is conducted
through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Every other year the
department publishes outlook information based on these surveys.
Each outlook period covers 10 years. For example, in 2003 the outlook information
was published for 2004-2014. Employers are asked to report the number of employees
in about 770 different occupations that cover the entire U.S. labor market.
From this information, staffing patterns for different industries are established.
Industry growth is projected into the future based on past trends and current economic
conditions. Industry staffing patterns are then applied to the industry projections
to obtain occupational projections.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties
of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational
category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics
for a broad category, be aware that the employment data for a specific field may
differ.
For more details about how employment information is collected and calculated by
the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
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