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As an EMT you may not be aware that there are several different EMT industries that you can work in. Most of them have very similar job requirements and roles to each other, but there are subtle differences that you should take into account. Different salaries are also involved in each of the different EMT industries and you should therefore choose wisely in order to make the most of your EMT career, financially speaking.
Popular EMT Industries
There are a number of highly popular EMT industries that you should choose to work in, each with slightly different job roles for the EMT:
- In the Ambulance Service you will be on the actual ambulance that responds to a medical emergency to provide first line support to the patient. In general an EMT working in this domain can earn around $8.44 – $14.72 an hour.
- EMTs also have the option of working in the Emergency Medical Services. This could also be on an ambulance as this qualifies as an emergency response system, or it could be in the emergency room of a hospital where patients are sent in an emergency. You will earn $8.44 – $14.72 an hour in this job.
- In Healthcare you will earn $8.75 – $15.23 an hour.
- If you work in a Hospital as an EMT you will earn something in the region of $9.03 – $15.81 an hour.
- Last but not least an EMT that works in Transportation earns something in the region of $8.63 – $15.52 an hour.
EMTs find these jobs to be the most rewarding jobs as they are given the opportunity to save lives. However these are also highly stressful EMT industries to be involved in as there is also an extremely high chance that you will lose your patients and that you will not be able to save their lives. However this is true for all EMT jobs, so a certain personality set is required to be a success in a job such as that.
Popular EMT Employers
There are also a number of popular employers within those industries that pay fairly good rates to their EMTs. If you choose to work as an EMT for American Medical Response, for example, the rate that you will be paid should be in the region of $9.69 – $17.62 an hour. This is by far the most popular employer for an EMT to work for. There are also several other fairly popular employers that you may want to consider as well:
- An EMT that works for Rural / Metro Ambulance service can expect to earn around $8.43 – $11.42 an hour.
- An EMT that works for AMR Corp can expect to earn around $10.29 – $13.85 an hour.
- An EMT that works for Acadian Ambulance Service Incorporated can expect to earn around $10.55 – $12.50 an hour.
- An EMT that works for Care Ambulance can expect to earn around $9.66 – $13.25 an hour.
So, although there are a number of popular EMT industries that you could look into, there are also specific employers within those industries that are, for varying reasons, more popular than other employers in the same industry. Do a bit of homework to see which industries and which employers are more popular in your area, but remember to also find out why they are popular. The hourly rate is not everything – you also need to consider additional benefits that are offered as well as the degree to which the EMTs employed there experience job satisfaction.
EMT Job Description And Characteristics
EMT industries are many and varied, but in most cases the EMT provides care in a pre-hospital setting. This means that you will be the first person to see the patient, and you will more often than not see them before they are taken into a hospital for further treatment. As an EMT you will be required to:
- Provide basic life support
- Perform patient assessment
- Engage in airway management
- Use the automatic defibrillator
- Assist patients with taking some of their own medications
- Drive the ambulance in a safe manner
- Have a thorough knowledge of the street, highway and addressing system
- Work under the direction of a Paramedic
- Assume a support role
- Understand all applicable legal, moral and ethical issues
- Be dedicated to continued learning
Working in any EMT industry requires that you have a certain set of personality requirements in order to handle the job properly. These are:
- The ability to accept the challenge and responsibility
- Excellent judgment
- The ability to prioritize decisions
- The ability to act quickly
- The ability to function at an optimum level in a non-structured environment that is constantly changing
- The ability to remain calm
- The ability to stay focused
- Good judgment
- Knowledge and technical skills
- Excellent verbal communication skills
- The ability to adapt to situations characterized by violence and emotional instability in multicultural settings
- Critical reasoning skills
- Self motivation
If you feel that you lack any of the above characteristics you should consider an alternative line of work.
Some Things EMTs Do On The Job
There are 12 man things that you, as an EMT, will be required to do on the job. Firstly you will have to communicate with dispatchers, the people who provide you with the information you need about the medical emergency that you are being called on to deal with. The dispatchers will also give you the location of the emergency. Secondly you will have to make your way to the scene of the accident or emergency where you will be required to assess the extent of the illness or injury from which the patient is suffering. Thirdly you will have to decide where to administer treatment. This depends on the severity of the patient’s condition.
If the injuries or illness is minor you will simply treat the patient in their own home or at the scene of the accident and not admit them to the hospital. If the injuries or the illness are severe you will be required to transport the patient to hospital. If it is necessary to take the patient to hospital you will be required to immobilize the patient. This means strapping or securing the patient to a stretcher so that he or she can be safely transported to the medical facility at which you are based. While you are on your way to the hospital and sometimes before you leave the scene from which you fetched the patent you will need to communicate with the hospital or medical care facility to which you are taking the patient. You will need to inform the medical facility of the patient’s condition and provide them with all of those details. You will receive further instructions regarding care of the patient, and you will provide the hospital with information regarding when you expect to arrive at the hospital. There are a number of pre-hospital treatments that you may have to perform before the patient gets to hospital.
Often you will perform these in the ambulance. These include things like administering intravenous medication, putting the patient on a drip, and using machinery found in the ambulance such as the EKG. A big part of what you do entails comforting the patient who will almost definitely be frightened by the situation that he or she is in. emergencies are often terrifying so it will be your responsibility, partially at least, to support the patient and try to allay his or her fears. As EMTs generally work in pairs or teams you may either be required to drive the ambulance or to be the EMT responsible for monitoring the patent’s vital signs or providing any treatment that has been deemed necessary. Both roles are equally important and both need to be taken very seriously. At times you may work with a helicopter team when a patient needs to be removed for a long distance away or when they have experienced the emergency in a place inaccessible by land based vehicles. Sometimes you will be the EMT that is based in the emergency room itself to ensure that everything is in order and ready to receive emergency victims at the drop of a hat.
Being an EMT will open a number of doors for you in terms of your future career. There are also, as you can see, a number of different industries that you can work in as well as a number of different employers that will hire you at very lucrative rates of pay. It is in your best interests to look into each f the different EMT industries that are available when applying for a job because, generally speaking, certain industries suit certain people better than others. Be wise in your decision making and think about the options carefully right from the start of your EMT training.