Paramedic Duties & Responsibilities
The role and function of a Paramedic includes the following duties and responsibilities:
- Assessing whether and how to move patients and, where appropriate, the best location to transport them to;
- Cleaning, decontaminating and checking vehicles and equipment to maintain a state of operational readiness;
- Liaising with members of other emergency services, such as the police, fire brigade or coast guard and other ambulance services to ensure the appropriate level of response is provided;
- Assessing the condition of patients who are injured or taken ill suddenly;
- Monitoring the patient’s condition;
- Dealing with members of the public and family members present at the scene;
- Assisting with patient care in hospitals or health care centres;
- Providing an immediate course of treatment en route to hospital or on scene;
- Applying splints to limbs, dressing wounds, administering pain relief, oxygen, drips and fluids;
- Using highly technical equipment, including ventilators to assist breathing and defibrillators to treat heart Failure, in order to resuscitate and stabilise patients;
- Carrying out certain surgical procedures when necessary, such as intubation (insertion of a breathing tube);
- Responding to emergency calls for medical assistance at accidents, emergencies and other related incidents, usually in an ambulance with an ambulance technician or emergency care assistant to help;
- Driving and crewing an ambulance or other rapid response vehicle;
- Producing thorough case notes and reporting the patient’s history, condition and treatment to relevant hospital staff.
Note that this is not an exhaustive list of Paramedic duties and responsibilities. Job functions for specific Paramedic roles may vary, depending on the industry and type of employer.