where do paramedics work?

Question

do paramedics work and stay at the firehouse with firefighters for 24 hour periods? what is it like to be a paramedic or EMT. what are the differences between the two? salaries? etc.? typical work week?

Answer 1

in a hospital

Answer 2

Paramedics work along side of firefighters.
Typical shifts can run from 4-7 days on with 4-15 off; depending on their status, if they are full time or not. When on duty the firefighters and paramedics live in the fire house full time to be ready for any call at any time.

Being a Paramedic is a lot of work; every single call will be for you or you and the fire trucks. Normally, a fire truck is dispatched with the paramedics to provide manpower if needed. A recent innovation has been to include a firefighter with the paramedic vehicle to assist.

A Paramedic = EMT
EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) is the larger field involving air and sea rescue, helicopters, snow patrol etc. Paramedics are typically in an Ambulance or Paramedic Van assigned to the fire house. Anyone can be an EMT, but you need a special license and training to be a Paramedic. Paramedics in the fire department are drawn from the ranks of the firemen so they are firemen first.

Salaries vary widely with the experience, location and if it is a suburb, city or rural. In New York most poor people consider Paramedics to be their first line of medical care and they are very likely to call out Paramedics for something as minor as a sprained finger. The advantage of going in on an ambulance can be several hours wasted waiting in the emergency room. There is pressure to get the Paramedics out into the field again so the patient is handled faster; sometimes. It depends on the hospital, the triage, the wound etc. So the paramedics of New York City get no rest while on shift. In other more rural areas the paramedics may work on a volunteer basis; only when called out. Most big cities have several fire departments with paramedic staff and they are called upon the most to respond to emergences in their area. If there is a fire then the paramedics automatically accompany the fire truck because it is so easy for firefighters to get hurt and the high likelihood of there being injured people on site.

"Emergency!" was the first TV show to cover the daily life of Paramedics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency%21.
It was the Adam-12 of its generation and did for firemen what shows like CHiPs and Adam-12 did for the police. If you want a dramatization of what a Paramedic does then this is your best source.

Prior to the use of Paramedics an ambulance worker's training could have varied from First Aid and CPR to full Paramedic training; it deepened on the company. Most of the time the ambulance concentrated on getting the patient to the hospital as fast as possible, first aid was rudimentary. The major difference with a Paramedic is that not only can they take an EKG in the field, they can send it to a doctor at the hospital and are trained to treat the patient, under the doctor’s direction. The first hour after an injury is called the “golden hour” because treatment is so important during this time. The human brain can only go for 3 minutes without oxygen before brain damage starts to set in. So if a person stops breathing CPR and a defibrillator are needed to revive the person. If the patient has to be transferred to the hospital first then the time could be too much; well over the 3 minute limit.

A Paramedic basically extends the hospital to the site of the emergency; this results in a dramatic increase in the number of lives saved. The idea came from the military which fielded Corp Men (for the marines) and Army Medics. At first they were just stretcher bearers, but as time went on they got better trained and had a wider range of skills. Now days an Army Medic or a Navy Corpsman can be just as good as a paramedic; especially in the Reserves or National Guard.

In Vietnam the wounded were reached and transported within an hour, currently in Iraq it is down to less than half that time. The same response time has been reported by paramedics in the US.

In the US the paramedic driving the vehicle is held responsible if an accident happens when they are violating traffic laws. The siren and lights give them permission to do so, but not all drivers will yield to them. It is customary to pull over and let the emergency vehicle pass, not just change lanes and slow down. So give those people a break when the siren sounds a life is at stake.

Answer 3

Stay at a station--any kind of station--fire or ambulance station. Pay sucks ---generally 25 to start. You have rotating shifts of either 12 or 24 hours. On a good day, you'll only get a few calls and can sleep--on bad days you're running all day long and running tres bad shite. Firefighters make about the same. Generally tap out around 40 if you're lucky. You never really see old paramedics. There's a reason for that. After the newby facination, it gets really old fast. And it's alot of drama to hold.

Answer 4

A paramedic works with an emergency medical team . They are trained ambulance officers