Have you ever though of becoming a paramedic? If the answer is yes, then this article has been made for you. In the next few lines, you'll learn more about the job, the salary, the conditions and you'll even have the description of a typical day in the life of an EMT. All of your questions about this job will be answered and you will have all the information you need.
Being a paramedic can be fun and very challenging at the same time. You feel very helpful to the society and you make a big difference in peoples life especially when they need you the most. You kind of feel like a hero sometimes. It can be quite stressful but it is very gratifying.
The EMT-Paramedic is at the upper rung of a three-level hierarchy. Paramedics administer sophisticated prehospital care. They are trained in the use of complex medical equipment, such as EKGs, and are capable of administering drugs both orally and intravenously.
Paramedics usually start their day by inspecting the vehicle they will be using for their shift. They make sure that all the equipment is there and that everything is refilled. After they say to the dispatch on the radio that they are now available. They will have a programmatic on the computer that will automatically pop up when they have a call. They will go at the right address and help the person who called for what ever the reason is. After doing the proper care, they will transport the person to the hospital while they continuously evaluate the patient. Once they arrived at the hospital, they will do their verbal report to the nurse and put the patient to the hospital triage. They will finally complete their document on the patient that is called "prehospital intervention report." They will do multiple calls in the day. Once their day is finished, they go back to the station and put back the ambulance like they took it in the morning.
A paramedic can either work on private companies or public companies. Public, like "Urgences-santé" in Montreal usually have more calls and is really busy. However, you have more advantages on public companies, like "CAMBI" in Saint-Agathe since they are a cooperative and the salary is usually better.
To become a paramedic, you only need a technique of three years. They give it at Ahuntsic in Montreal, St-Hyacinthe of at John Abbott in English. There are a lot of theory like biology, psychophysiology or even communication skills as well as practice lessons like traumatology, medical intervention and pharmacology. Once you finish the 3-year program, you can be a paramedic right away. If you want to continue, you can do 2 years as an EMT and then go to another 2 years at a university to be in advance care.
A paramedic usually makes a salary around $55 000 to $75 000. It depends on the region you work in, the type of company that you are in, as well as the number of hours you make If you do a lot of overtime, it can quite boost the salary.
An EMT need to keep up with some training since they are a lot of updates in the world of the medical. Some training is given by the company now and then to make sure everyone is update when there is new equipment for example or a protocol as been modified.
There is a few risk since you usually work in dangerous situations. However, we are not trained to respond when our life is at risk. Police officers make sure that the scene is safe before we can enter. So yes, there is a few risks if you have a call for an accident on the highway or for a shooting where they are many injured people for example, but we are always protected by the police department.
Chances are quite small and I would say impossible since every call is different and a robot could not do the whole job. It's not like working on a computer where everything could be done automatically. You need to interact with a patient and have some human contact, so robots could not take our places.
Paramedics are usually retired around the age of 50 to 65. Of course, it can be before or after this range but it's just to give an idea. It is quite a stressful and demanding job physically so not everyone is able to keep up until the age of 65. However, it gives a gratifying feeling and you feel like you really made a difference to the life of many people during your whole career.
To conclude this article, I would like to say that it is a wonderful job where you get to learn a lot about the human body and how to save lives. You have to do it with passion and every day at work is fun and exciting. It is never redundant and always different. If you like being active and helping people, you can't make a wrong choice choosing this job.
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Date: still relevant
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Rationale: to inform or educate
Authority: government
Date: still relevant
Accuracy: probably true
Relevance: relevant for this document
Sources: cites sources