Requirements To Be A Paramedic
Paramedic is a profession in which you can make real difference in the lives of people. Becoming paramedics means that you have to deal with life and death situations. This profession is not for the faint hearted as you have to handle medical emergencies and trauma as medically trained personnel. Whether there is any accident or a medical emergency, you are responsible for arriving at the scene and providing quick medical care to the victims. Moreover, anyone suffering from strokes or heart attack needs emergency medical attention which is provided by the paramedic. Therefore, if you are interested in this career, you need to find out how to become a paramedic so that you get a job in healthcare industry. You will have to work in government emergency services and hospital frequently in helicopters, ambulances and rescue vehicles. Hence, if you want to work as a paramedic, you will need to know the requirements to be a paramedic so that you can start preparations for it. This is the best way of getting your dream job in this fast paced and exciting career where you can earn a good amount of money.
Skills that you need to become a paramedic
The most important skills that you will need to gain to become a paramedic are the ability to manage and handle medical emergencies. You need to offer help to people who are in need of medical help and also perform advanced life support on these people. Along with these skills, you will also require proper certification and license to work as a medical professional. As you will be working in a wide variety of medical as well as non medical emergencies, you should use your skills and judgment for assessing the condition of the victim or patient. Based on the situations, you will also need to make life saving decisions so that you can stabilize and resuscitate patients. This is achieved with the use of drugs, sophisticated equipment and advanced techniques for saving lives of people who are suffering from any life threatening medical condition or natural disasters. There are different high tech equipment that you need to use on the patients including traction splints, spinal splints and defibrillators. This rewarding and exciting career path requires you to get the necessary education and training that is needed for starting the paramedic career.
Paramedic- leader of the rescue team
When you are a paramedic, you are responsible for taking care of people who have been affected by any natural disasters. The training and certification plays an important role in helping you perform some of the most important life saving functions. Even in the extremely stressful crisis situations, you need to be complexly composed so that you can take the right decisions pertaining to the lives of victims. It is very essential that you have the desired skills because even a small mistake can cause the death of victims. You will need to handle the team members in different situations so that they work according to the needs of the situations.
Requirements to be a paramedic
The requirements to work as a paramedic are extremely rigorous and if you have decided to follow this career, you will need to work hard to achieve your goals. You can enroll for the paramedical courses after class 10 or 12 for completing the course that can vary from one year to three years. A paramedic works as the highest level of emergency medical technician and you will need to get the certification after completing the course. Hence, there are some functions that are same as that of the EMT but there are some specialized functions that can only be performed by the paramedic. The time duration of the course varies according to your educational path and career goals. Whether you want to acquire skills for handling first response situations or more advanced performance will determine the course that you need to complete for becoming a paramedic. You need to enroll yourself into the medical school for becoming trained in the advanced emergency services. This is a perfect route where you gain different job experience while working on a day to day basis. Along with the paramedic education, you will also need to go through field training, laboratory sessions and rigorous classroom education that will make you expert in this field.
Steps for becoming a paramedic
Get professional certification and licensing- this can be achieved with formal education and training so that you can work as a medical professional.
Minimum age limit- a paramedic should be at least of 18 years for starting with the EMT training and course.
Physical examination- before applying for the paramedical course, you need to pass the physical examination and undergo screening for hepatitis B and tuberculosis.
EMT basic training- for getting paramedic certification, you will need to complete the EMT-B training so that you can start working as medical professional. You will need to undertake two years of formal training to become an emergency care technician and get additional skills and training to be a paramedic.
Topics covered in the paramedic courses include medical courses, medications, cardiology, physiology, anatomy, airway management which are needed for handling traumatic emergencies and life threatening medical conditions. Additionally, for becoming a paramedic, you also need to have 6 months of experience for working as an EMT. A criminal background check is also conducted on the applicants before the start of the course for ensuring that only honest and genuine individuals are eligible for the admission. Paramedic training is available in many community colleges and this two year degree program includes classroom training as well as clinical training at medical colleges, hospitals, fire departments and ambulance companies. After completion of the course, you will receive the license and certification of working as a paramedic. There are plenty of paramedic job opportunities that you will receive but before that you will have to fulfill the requirements to be a paramedic. Along with the huge responsibility, you will also earn higher salary while enjoying an extremely rewarding career for saving people during unforeseen circumstances.