If you ever wanted to become a paramedic, you should read this career summary. You may learn some useful information.
It is very stressful and energy taking because the survival of the patient often depend on you and your actions. It demands you to show a lot of empathy towards the victims. You have to be willing to help anybody, no matter what are their problems.
Paramedics help the community by providing health care to sick or injured people and by transporting them to a medical center. They evaluate the situation and the patient to better understand their problem and provide healthcare if necessary. They help people who are in physical and / or psychological distress.
They start the day by doing a mechanical inspection of their ambulance. Then, the two paramedics drive to their waiting spot and wait until they get a call for an emergency. When they get called, they go at the address of the emergency and take in charge the patient. They evaluate his general state and provide health care if necessary. The paramedics then transport the patient to a hospital.
They work in their delegated sector of the city they are working in. They also go inside the home of the patient and bring him in their ambulance.
You can apply for the Prehospital Emergency Care program at the Ahuntsic College and do a 3 years long formation.
A paramedic in primary health care's salary start at roughly 54 000 a year and will go up to 81 000 after 12 years of service.
A paramedic does not need additional training to be able to do their job. They only need to do additional training to learn a new technique added by the ministry.
You are exposed to all kinds of viruses and diseases that the patient may have. You are also exposed to all type of biological liquid like blood and vomit. Some patient can also be aggressive and violent. All that can represent a potential danger for you and your partner and that why you have to be extremely cautious during your interventions.
I don't think that paramedics will be replaced by robots any soon because of the complexity of the things a paramedic have to do, but robot can and are already helping us. For example, the Lucas is a robot that we can attach to the litter that performs chest compression continuously. It is then safer for the paramedic to be in the module of the vehicle, because he can sit and put on his seat belt during the transportation of the patient instead of staying up and performing chest compression himself.
The normal retiring age for a paramedic is around 60 year old, but they often retire before that.
As you can see, being a paramedic requires a diploma in collegian studies, empathy and good stress managements skills.