Emergency Medical Services
Nature of the Work
People's lives often depend on the quick reaction and comprehensive care of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics. Incidents as varied as automobile accidents, heart attacks, drownings, childbirths, and gunshot wounds, all require immediate medical attention. EMTs and Paramedics provide this vital intervention as they care for and transport the sick or injured to an appropriate medical facility.
Depending on the nature of the emergency, EMS personnel typically are dispatched to the scene by a 911 operator and often work closely with police and fire department personnel. Once on scene, they determine quickly the nature and extent of the patient's condition, while trying to ascertain whether the patient has preexisting medical problems. Guided by policies and protocols, they give appropriate emergency care and when necessary, transport the patient. EMTs and Paramedics also treat patients with minor injuries on the scene of an accident or at their home without transporting them to a medical facility. Some Paramedics work as part of helicopter flight crews that transport critically ill or injured. All treatments are carried out under the supervision of a physician.
The specific responsibilities of EMTs and Paramedics depend on their level of
training and/or licensing. To determine this, the Michigan Department of Public
Health trauma systems section licenses emergency medical service (EMS) providers
after successful completion of the National Registry of Emergency Medical
Technicians (NREMT) practical and written tests have been passed. The State of
Michigan licenses at four levels: Medical First Responders (MFR), EMT-Basic,
EMT-Specialist, and EMT-Paramedic. The lowest level, the Medical First Responder
(MFR), is trained to provide basic emergency medical care because they tend to
be the first persons to arrive at the scene of an incident. Many firefighters,
police officers, and other emergency workers have this level of training. The
EMT-Basic, also known as EMT-B, represents the first component of the emergency
medical technician system. An EMT-B is trained to care for ill or injured
patients on scenes and during transport by ambulance to the hospital. The EMT-B
has the skills to assess a patient's condition and manage respiratory, cardiac,
other medical and trauma emergencies. The EMT-Specialist (EMT-S) has more
advanced training that allows administration of intravenous fluids, use of
advanced airway techniques and equipment to assist patients experiencing
emergencies. Paramedics (EMT-P) provide the most extensive pre-hospital care. In
addition to the procedures already described, paramedics may administer drugs,
interpret electrocardiograms (ECGs), use manual defibrillators, perform surgical
airways, and use other complex equipment.
