Tag: choosing a paramedic school

New Roles For Paramedics

A team of paramedic and emergency medical technicians are known to be the street heroes as they race patients to the nearest hospital. However, as of this writing, paramedics have new roles to deal with in order to have a safe and healthy environment. They are taking a new role of promoting good health to people to keep them out from being admitted to hospitals.

Paramedics are now entering the new field in health care called community paramedicine. Their role is to train people on how to respond to chronic illness attack and promote home safety. The emergency team is being sent to different areas to provide health teaching and to inspect health hazards. This is a good step made by experts that will connect health and people living in remote areas.

Basically, what paramedics usually do in the area is to take and assess vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, glucose count, and other significant physical assessment. They also provide health procedures such as giving intravenous medications, and even performing laboratory tests. Moreover, the main goal of paramedics is to provide helpful health teachings to the community. In order to have a good outcome, paramedics also work with other health professionals such as doctors, nurses, psychologist, and dietitians.

In this new health role, paramedics and other members of the emergency team, are expected to do more community outreach like visiting not just the community, but other facilities such as mental and senior care homes. This new role of paramedics not just promotes health, it also helps decrease the number of accidents, illness and occurrence of new hazards. Moreover, this new program helps hospitals that face penalties from health insurance companies from being submitted to debts caused by a patient’s longer hospital stay.

Community paramedics deployed in different areas are well-experienced and skilled medics. They know that their main goal is to promote health and focus on primary care that will keep people healthy at all times thus preventing diseases and other illnesses from getting worse.

On Paramedics

Paramedics are entirely different from a nurse. But they are healthcare professionals, who are concentrated with giving pre-hospital care such as doing first aid.

But paramedics work mainly at the location of an emergency as part of an emergency  first response team. Most of the time, they are working closely with an ambulance unit, or with medical technicians before a patient outside a hospital. Paramedics have working relations with a variety of medical organizations, and their services may vary depending on the company’s system.

Their role has evolved over time along with the expansion of diversified practices, from providing basic health care to specialized medical assessments. Part of the evolution of paramedics are their involvement with the community. In some extreme cases, a paramedic is an essential part of a rescuing team, included as part of an aviation medical mission perhaps, where they would transport a patient through a chopper to receive medical attention from a nearby hospital.

In other instances, paramedics have replaced the roles of physicians, nurses and even medical technicians in rescuing patients, such as in the event of a calamity or in giving medical assistance on critical areas. Paramedics often work hand in hand with police officers, marine doctors, army engineers, or search and rescue teams. Often times they are called tactical paramedics.

A paramedic is either employed by the emergency medical arm of a municipality or a private medical organization. They could be an attachment unit with the locale’s public ambulance system, the fire department or even a community hospital. They could even volunteer on a particular project in need of medical assistance such as doing research on remote areas or an additional group of an association.

Paramedic Training Schools

A person who wants to be a paramedic must finish either a certification or a 2-year associate degree in paramedic technology. These programs are usually available at junior college and at technical schools. Typically, states have tight specifications regarding the training of paramedics, such as the number of credit hours needed to finish the training program.

The first step to choosing a paramedic school is to obtain a record of state-approved, associate’s degree and certification programs in paramedic technology. A record of accepted programs in paramedic technology can be acquired from the state in which a potential paramedic plans to work. Paramedic training degree and accreditation provide learners with a thorough background in anatomy and physiology, pre-hospital care and cardiac life support.

Students should also ensure that their system of choice includes a significant healthcare component and enables graduate students to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) examination. The healthcare experience includes working at medical centers and for emergency vehicle services that are associated with the community universities offering the paramedic technology training.

Clinical shifts are usually offered in the summer between the first and second years of registration. During the training, learners learn to deal with traumatic situations by managing their initial psychological responses to healthcare emergency situations. An obvious benefit to finishing a certification program in paramedic technology is the short amount of time to finish the degree program. Duration can range from one year to a year and a half. However, learners who finish an associate’s degree in paramedic technology have also finished all general education specifications, making it simpler to transfer to a 4-year school. Possible profession options include paramedic supervisor and administrative director and operations manager, says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Often, a paramedic will choose to continue his or her studies and engage in a profession in nursing or another allied health area.