The role of paramedics in the healthcare industry has evolved from one that assumed an assistant’s role such as answering 911 calls, dispatching the calls, and delivering first aid treatment to patients to one that requires some decision making skills, including determining the extent of injury of an individual to providing actual treatment to patients in emergency cases. However, unlike doctors and nurses whose roles are medically defined and accepted in the healthcare industry as legitimate healthcare professions, paramedics are still struggling for recognition as a profession because acceptance to the field is typically not through completion of academic requirements for paramedics nor is there a standard, recognized licensure test for paramedics worldwide. Instead, some countries such as Canada and the United States of America have their own licensing bodies – the Alberta College of Paramedics (ACP) and the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT), respectively, while most countries do not. Employment is through an employment screening system. There is no common accredited licensing body to sanction paramedics and ensure that they have the same code of ethics to follow. While various countries have their own guidelines for paramedics, the common denominator is an individual’s willingness and passion to serve and help others in times of need. With or without specific guidelines for paramedics worldwide, those in the paramedicine industry play a huge role in the healthcare industry in keeping patients well during emergency situations.
Paramedics are also sometimes called emergency medical technicians (EMTs) because they provide medical care and assistance to patients requiring immediate attention due to emergencies or need to be moved from one hospital to another (Bureau of Labor Statistics). They create patient medical reports, accept emergency calls, perform medical services, and transport patients from one hospital to another, if the need arises. While on the way to a medical facility, paramedics ensure that patients receive the medical care needed while a doctor is not yet available. Paramedics are knowledgeable when it comes to handling medical equipment, assessing a patient’s circumstance and apply the necessary treatment to patients, assisting health professionals move patients from one medical location to another, creating patient reports, including documentation of patient care and treatment given to patients, handling inventory of medical supplies, and more. They may even drive ambulances while another paramedic examines and records patient vital signs and provide medical assistance (BLS). Typically, their role includes giving out-of-hospital treatment and laboratory services, while others perform hospital-based responsibilities, such as treatment of wounds, among others.
Paramedics assist in caring for ill persons or “injured patients in pre-hospital setting” (BLS). They may help in “resuscitating and stabilizing a patient, [use] high tech equipment such as defibrillator, [apply] spinal and traction splints, [and administer] intravenous rips, drugs, and oxygen” (Meyer). Aside from these tasks, paramedics also make decisions whether a patient is fit to be transported by land or requires to be airlifted for faster and easier access to medical treatment. It also involves choosing the best routes to pass and driving an ambulance or any high speed vehicles. One of the most difficult responsibilities of a paramedic is dealing with the family members of the victim who are present at the scene and explaining the medical situation of the patient. Aside from the family, paramedics also have to deal with other service teams present, including the police, to ensure that proper medical assistance is accorded to the patient (Meyer).
A paramedic’s workday is never the same considering the various cases involved at work. It is also a highly stressful job and because they usually work on emergency cases and in out-of-hospital settings, the more they are predisposed to work-related injuries, illnesses, or contaminations. The job requires a lot of bending and lifting of patients as they (paramedics) find ways to make patients comfortable. They may also experience physical injuries caused by violent patients, thus, the presence of the police is very important in such cases. Due to the unpredictability of their work, identifying a specific work schedule is difficult. However, they typically work fulltime and regardless of weather conditions.
Despite the above roles and responsibilities of paramedics, the field is yet to be recognized as a full-pledged profession by the medical and healthcare industry. In a study conducted in Australia in 2008, two important facts came up in the survey. One, paramedic field is not considered a profession and two, the “paramedic discipline” actually wants to be recognized as a profession (Williams, Onsman, & Brown, 2010, p. 1). The Australian health industry recognizes that there is a need for an “alternative health care workforce” (Williams et al., 2010, p. 2), which can be addressed with the professionalization of the paramedic discipline. With the re-skilling of the current crop of paramedics, the need for highly qualified paramedics will be addressed. However, a new issue arises because with the re-skilling and professionalization of the field, it would overlap with the nursing field in terms of job role and responsibilities (Williams et al., 2010, p. 2).
In the healthcare industry, for an occupation to be considered a “profession”, it must be able to evolve from “vocational education to the Higher Education sector” (Williams et al., 2010, p. 6). Currently, most paramedic courses are offered in technical schools, vocational schools, or colleges that offer short courses to associate degree courses for paramedics. While there are colleges that offer post-graduate courses for paramedics, the fact that some paramedics get into the field with only a high school diploma raises the concern of professionalization. As such, there is still a huge reservation whether to consider the paramedics discipline a full-pledged profession. In addition, it also requires being under the supervision of a nationally and internationally recognized board for paramedics, professional associations, and licensing arm that is similar with the Nursing board (Williams et al., 2010, p. 6). This is very important considering that despite efforts of the paramedics industry’s presentation of its members as health professionals, they are still not recognized as such. This is evident in discussions pertaining the health industry where the paramedics associations are “rarely consulted or even considered as a profession when health policy is discussed at a national level” (O’Meara, 2009, p. 2).
In Canada, paramedics discipline is slowly maturing although it has yet to meet the conditions for professionalism, which includes “mastery of knowledge and skills [for paramedics], service and accountability to those served, a code of ethics [for practitioners], and autonomy of practice and self-regulation” (Bowles, 2009, p. 5). In Canada, paramedics are most likely members of unions and are not regulated by an internationally-recognized professional organization for paramedics. Each province in Canada has its own code of ethics and guidelines to follow, which are some of the requirements for the field to be recognized as a profession (Bowles, 2009, p. 5).
Finally, it is also vital that an occupation has a professional culture shared among various associations. This culture refers to shared norms, beliefs, language, values, and philosophies, among others, that various paramedics groups must understand and embrace as a group (Reynolds, 2004, p. 3). It also involves behaviors and how members act in social settings, for instance, in emotionally challenging situations (Reynolds, 2004, p. 4).
While there is still an issue on the professionalization of the paramedics’ discipline, for now, practitioners will just have to perform their jobs well and continue their service-oriented thinking about their occupation. It would help if they opt for higher education and seek further training on various ways to provide care for their patients.
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS] (n.d.). EMTs and paramedics. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/emts-and-paramedics.htm#tab-1
Bowles, R. R. (2009). From learning activities to the meaning of life: Fostering professionalism in Canadian paramedic education. Journal of Emergency Primary Health Care (JEPHC). 7(4).
Meyer, H. (2012). Paramedic job description. Prospects. Retrieved from http://www.prospects.ac.uk/paramedic_job_description.htm
O’Meara, P. (2009). Paramedics marching toward professionalism. Journal of Emergency Primary Health Care (JEPHC), 7(1).
Reynolds, L. (2004). Is prehospital care really a profession. Journal of Emergency Primary Health Care (JEPHC), 2(1-2).
Williams, B., Onsman, A., & Brown, T. (2010). Is the Australian paramedic a full profession?. Journal of Emergency Primary Health Care (JEPHC), 8(1).
