Accidents could happen anywhere. You could never predict the time and place. Super heroes only exist on comic books and cartoons but real life heroes who respond directly on emergencies are the Emergency Medical Technicians. If you have the passion of helping people in distress then this is a good career to pursue. The adrenaline and feeling of saving a persons life is indescribable. Emergency Medical Technician’s or EMT provides a vital role in taking care of the sick and injured while transporting into hospitals or medical facilities for extensive care. The life of the patient will depend on the level of competency and response time of the EMT and paramedics.

Enumerated below are the job responsibilities of Emergency Medical Technician’s:

·    Transports and administers first aid to the sick and injured person to a hospital or nearby medical facility.
·    Coordinates with paramedics and other medical emergency members
·    Maintain contact with dispatcher
·    Assist in retrieving the injured person from accident scenes.
·    Determines the level of injury to be able to apply the necessary first aid procedure
·    Constant communication with professional medical personnel to acquire instructions on further treatments while transporting
·    Record information regarding victim’s vital statistics while in emergency.
·    Maintains and replenish medical and first aid supplies for emergency vehicles.
·    Crowd control or protecting other valuables during emergency
·    Sanitize medical vehicle transporting patients with deadly diseases

Pursuing this career path would require a high school diploma or an equivalent certification. Formal education and training is necessary to qualify for this course. Schools may offer an EMT certification or an associate degree. Education and training for EMT’s is done on a progressive level, which is the basic, intermediate, and paramedic. The first level works on the emergency skills of the student. This may include managing trauma, cardiac, and respiratory emergencies. It covers all the basic first aid for certain emergencies and situation.  It is then combined with hands on trainings to enhance the skills of the student. You need to pass a written and practical exam to be able to acquire an EMT basic certification. In the intermediate level, students are taught on more advance first aid skills such as using intravenous fluids, airway devices and medications. The training may vary from state to state. The most advance EMT is the paramedic level where the student is equipped with trainings in anatomy, advance medical skills and physiology. Same as the other levels, you need to pass a certification exam in order to reach it.

The earnings for an emergency medical technician may vary from the level of skill attained. The salary may range from $25,310 to $43,000 annually. More advance EMT’s gain more compared to entry-level graduates. The more skilled and certification you acquire, the greater your benefits and salary. Some EMT’s may earn more due to the geographical location and the employment setting. Better pass all the certification and strive hard for continuous study in order to improve your EMT level quickly.