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Becoming an EMT: Quick Facts

Quick Facts:

Tasks

• Drive ambulances or assist ambulance drivers in transporting sick, injured, or convalescent persons.
• Remove and replace soiled linens and equipment in order to maintain sanitary conditions.
• Place patients on stretchers, and load stretchers into ambulances, usually with assistance from other attendants.
• Accompany and assist emergency medical technicians on calls.
• Earn and maintain appropriate certifications.
• Replace supplies and disposable items on ambulances.
• Report facts concerning accidents or emergencies to hospital personnel or law enforcement officials.

Knowledge

• Customer and Personal Service – Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Transportation – Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Public Safety and Security – Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• English Language – Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills

• Active Listening – Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Equipment Maintenance – Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
• Operation Monitoring – Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Coordination – Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
• Reading Comprehension – Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities

• Oral Expression – The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity – The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension – The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

First Thing to Know: Nature of the Work

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos101.htm | USA.gov CareerVoyages.gov

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