What is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)?

Ever wondered what happens if a person needs medical attention immediately? In situations where there isn’t much time to make a difference, someone has to step in and be willing to act in the place of a doctor. Oftentimes, immediate treatment is administered in the back of an ambulance or at the scene of an emergency. The person who arrives on the scene to offer immediate medical help is called an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

An Emergency Medical Technician is trained to be able to deliver emergency medical treatment in situations where you can’t get to a doctor or are in the process of being transported to a medical facility. There are many incidents that require immediate assistance. Imagine someone having a heart attack. They call 911, but their heart starts to hurt and pound. By the time the ambulance arrives with an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) on board, the person may have only minutes left to live. The Emergency Medical Technician quickly and expertly hooks the patient up to their medical equipment and in many cases pretty much saves their life by administering treatment. This is but one scenario where the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) has just helped extend the patient’s life by keeping them alive during the ride to the hospital.

Most EMT’s are dispatched by 911 operators  when you call in to report an emergency. They arrive on scene ready to deal with situations and conditions that can’t wait – near-fatal slips and falls, car accidents, emergency childbirth, gunshot/stab wounds, and heart attacks to name a few. People who find themselves affected by any of these unfortunate scenarios can trust that their EMT will work diligently to keep them safe and alive until they get to the hospital.

Keep in mind that an EMT receives an incredible amount of specialized training. This training is what will help them perform their job more efficiently. An Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) is required to learn how to lift patients gently without causing more damage, and may also be charged with getting them onto a stretcher or backboard. An Emergency Medical Technician must be physically fit, as well, to shoulder the enormous amount of weight from carrying patients.

You may have never given a second thought to what an Emergency Medical Technician is and how they spend their day working. Most people never see the inside of an ambulance in their entire life. Unknown to you, however, there are hundreds of Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) workers on call every week. Now that you know, hopefully you have a new found respect for them and the difficult nature of their job. Riding unsecured in the backseat of an  vehicle is tough enough, but imagine trying to save someone’s life while you’re bouncing around!

Always make sure you stop and yield to ambulances and all emergency vehicles. Getting in the way and slowing down an EMT could mean the difference between them getting there too late and them getting there just in time to save a life.

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