Four Levels of EMTs

Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are the first people to arrive at the scene of accidents or emergencies. EMTs provide much-needed medical care to the injured or sick at the scene and continue to do so en route to a healthcare facility. An EMT will assess the different emergency situations and decide on the appropriate care to extend to the patient. The technician also maintains contact with the healthcare facility’s ER physician, who prescribes the medications and/or procedures the EMT administers while traveling to the closest ER. When they arrive at the ER, the EMTs report the observations they have made on the patients and the actions they have taken toward them. After this, the EMTs restock their supplies, decontaminate the vehicle, and check their equipment. Besides the general duties, there are additional duties that the EMTs carry out and which require expertise and qualifications; hence, there are four levels of EMTs. The four levels of EMTs include First Responder, EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate, and Paramedic. Some states, however, use different scales of rating in determining the proficiency of an EMT (Austin & Wetle, 2012).

According to Austin and Wetle (2012), the Medical First Responder is the entry-level EMT point and offers very basic emergency care to a patient. Many businesses/industries, police officers, and firefighters deal with this level. The EMT-Basic is one that is trained to take basic care of a patient in scenes where accidents occur as well as in the ambulance as the patient is taken to the hospital. This category possesses the basic skills for patient assessment, managing the patient’s heart and breathing, and handling trauma emergencies.

The EMT-Intermediate has advanced training and emphasizes dealing with cardiac problems using invasive skills such as medication intervention, cardiac rhythm interpretation, and advanced airway invasion. Lastly, the Paramedics are advanced emergency medical care providers and are well-versed in topics of cardiology, physiology, and anatomy, as well as in medical procedures and medication interventions. Paramedics are also skilled in resuscitating and helping patients in trauma and those experiencing heart attacks.