Emergency Medical Personnel

In Alberta, there are three tiers of emergency medical personnel:

• Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)
• Emergency Medical Technician - Ambulance (EMT)
• Emergency Medical Technologist - Paramedic (EMT-P).

Personnel in all three tiers:

• assess the extent of injuries or illness to determine medical treatment
• comfort and reassure patients
• obtain the patient's medical history, if possible
• perform and interpret diagnostic procedures such as taking vital signs and testing glucose levels
• administer pre-hospital emergency care including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), oxygen, bandaging, splinting, and assisting in childbirth and the treatment of trauma patients
• use a semi-automatic or automatic external defibrillator or bag valve mask resuscitator
• use basic airway management techniques
• use spinal immobilization devices and traction splints
• transport patients to hospital or other medical facilities for further care
• document and record the nature of injuries and treatment provided
• assist hospital personnel as required
• maintain ambulances, equipment and supplies
• supervise and train staff members and students.

In addition, EMTs may:

• initiate and maintain intravenous infusions
• perform cardiac monitoring
• perform airway management using non-visualized airways
• administer specified medications
• assist paramedics (where there are combined services).

EMT-Ps may perform the duties of EMTs and administer advanced pre-hospital emergency care:

• maintain airways with intubation and surgical airways
• provide manual cardiac defibrillation and external pacing 
• initiate, monitor and maintain blood and blood product transfusions
• provide advanced wound management
• provide conscious sedation
• diagnose and interpret arterial blood gases
• operate sophisticated equipment in advanced life-support ambulances, medevac aircraft or other advanced life-support environments
• administer medications for the treatment of medical conditions and management of acute pain
• initiate and maintain intraosseous infusions
• urinary catheterization
• monitor chest tubes.

This work is physically demanding. Emergency medical personnel are required to lift loads weighing well over 20 kilograms (for example, patients on stretchers). They must observe safety precautions to avoid injury when working with equipment and exposure to potentially hazardous biological agents.

Emergency medical personnel work both indoors and outdoors, often in stressful circumstances, and may work in extreme weather conditions. They may work full time, part time or as volunteers. Those employed full time or part time work shifts that include evenings, weekends and holidays. They may work 8, 10, 12,14 or 24 hour shifts.

Emergency medical personnel need the following characteristics:

• excellent oral and written communication skills
• strong leadership abilities
• sound decision making and critical thinking skills
• a strong desire to help those in need
• the ability to remain firm, reassuring and efficient in moments of crisis
• the ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Paramedics also need manual dexterity to administer advanced pre-hospital emergency care.

All emergency medical personnel should enjoy compiling information to assess injuries and illness, having clear rules and organized methods for administering pre-hospital care, and operating medical equipment.

Above-average occupational growth is expected in Alberta for 2016 to 2020. Job openings are a result of employment turnover and newly created positions.

EMRs work for provincial, private and industrial ambulance services. Some firefighters are qualified EMRs (for more information, see the Firefighter occupational profile). Advancement to the second and third tiers of Alberta's system of emergency medical services requires additional training.

EMTs work for ambulance services and related industrial and emergency services.

EMT-Ps are employed in emergency service departments, ambulance services and other health care related environments. Industries such as the oil and gas industry may employ EMT-Ps to provide emergency medical aid on large job sites. With additional education, EMT-Ps may move into related health care occupations.

All three tiers of emergency medical personnel are included in the larger 2011 National Occupational Classification 3234: Ambulance attendants and other paramedical occupations. In Alberta, 78% of people employed in this classification work in the Health Care and Social Assistance (PDF) industry.

The employment outlook in this occupation will be influenced by a wide variety of factors including:

• trends and events affecting overall employment (especially in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry)
• location in Alberta
• employment turnover (work opportunities generated by people leaving existing positions)
• occupational growth (work opportunities resulting from the creation of new positions that never existed before)
• size of the occupation.

Over 3,900 Albertans are employed in the Ambulance attendants and other paramedical occupations occupational group. This group is expected to have an above-average annual growth of 3.4% from 2016 to 2020. As a result, 133 new positions are forecast to be created each year, in addition to job openings created by employment turnover. Note: As emergency medical personnel form only a part of this larger occupational group, only some of these newly created positions will be for emergency medical personnel.

Employment turnover is expected to increase as members of the baby boom generation retire over the next few years.

Alberta College of Paramedics (ACP) website: www.collegeofparamedics.org

Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) website: www.hsaa.ca

For more information on career planning, education and jobs, visit the Alberta Learning Information Service (ALIS) website, call the Alberta Career Information Hotline toll-free at 1-800-661-3753 or 780-422-4266 in Edmonton, or visit an Alberta Works Centre near you.