What Do Paramedics Do?

What a paramedic does will depend on where he or she works. Paramedics in large cities have many different kinds of calls. There are lots of traffic accidents. Sometimes there explosions, fires, gang violence. In a city where many older people live , most paramedic calls are for heart problems. Some units may have three calls in a n hour, with no time to check in to their station between calls. In rural area it might require an hour of driving just to reach the emergency. In our national parks, forest ranger paramedics make rescues that sometimes involve rock-climbing or a long trip by horseback. They communicate with local doctors when they must give drugs. In some communities sheriff paramedics handle law enforcement and are also on call for emergencies at correctional institutions. Their response is quicker than doctors could be.

Paramedics working for private ambulance companies do many 'critical care transfers.' They take patient patients from home to hospital or from one hospital to another. There is usually no immediate emergency, but paramedic must ride along because of the patients serious condition. Some paramedic s work for air ambulance companies that have been hired to give emergency care to workers on off-shore oil drilling rigs. Occasionally, an oil company or a construction company overseas hires paramedics.

In small towns, paramedics sometimes work as orderlies or physicians assistants in the emergency room of a hospital. When a call comes, they put on their paramedic hats, grab the trauma kit and head for the field. Some volunteer paramedics, on rural rescue squads, may work at a job that isn't connected with medicine at all. These volunteers carry an electronic pager or 'beeper, with them all the time. When the beep sounds, they know that an emergency has arisen and their help is needed. They may be called any time of the day or night.

By Edward Ombaka Adeny