Job Duties for a Paramedic
Paramedic job opportunities are projected to grow nine percent from 2008 to 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Paramedics are medical professionals who are trained to provide pre-hospital care to patients in all different kinds of situations. The job duties of paramedics require a love for helping others, good physical stamina and dexterity, the ability to take direction and a flexible schedule. Paramedics have one of the most stressful careers in the health care field.
Other People Are Reading
-
Patient History
-
Before paramedics can help patients, they need to have a brief background about the patient. This is sometimes hard, especially if the patient is unconscious, but medical bracelets and available family members or friends can help. Paramedics need to find out what diseases the patient has and what kind of medicine they take daily or recently in order to provide the proper pre-hospital care. For example, if a patient has taken too many different medications at once, the paramedic needs to know the dosage and type of each medicine, as they may counteract each other and cause serious medical conditions. If paramedics know what to expect from a patient, quicker and better prevention and treatment can occur.
Patient Care
-
Patient care duties performed by paramedics can range from something as simple as giving sugar to a patient suffering from insulin shock, to something as complicated as dressing and bandaging a cracked skull. Paramedics should be certified in basic life support, which includes CPR, automated external defibrillator and first aid training, in order to provide the best care to patients. Typical duties may involve helping and stabilizing patients with burns, frostbite, seizures, head trauma, broken bones and cardiac arrest.
-
Lifting and Moving Patients
-
Paramedics are held responsible for the proper method of lifting and moving patients to and from vehicles to hospitals. If a paramedic assumes a car crash victim doesn't have neck injuries even though they do, and they fail to properly keep the patient's head steady and strapped to the backboard, the patient could become paralyzed. Paramedics need to be very careful when transporting patients and work together with EMTs when lifting so the patient's weight is evenly distributed.
Other Duties
-
Paramedics are also responsible for driving ambulances and sometimes even flying. They need to be able to navigate roads (or skies), take available short cuts and get the patient to the hospital as quickly and as safely as possible. Paramedics are also required to supervise EMTs, volunteers and other medical professionals on the scene of accidents.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit paramedic image by Byron Moore from Fotolia.com
