Emergency medical technicians

Recruitment is very competitive, as is training, but those in the job say they love their work.

EMTs work over a 24-hour period, 365 days a year.  They assess those who are sick or injured and provide appropriate care using a wide variety of techniques.  If appropriate, they provide transportation for emergency and non-emergency patients and their relatives.

Here are the day-to-day aspects of this very demanding job:

• Driving under emergency conditions that require periods of intense concentration
• egular moving and handling of patients, using equipment where appropriate and the correct kinetics of lifting at all times
• Manual dexterity required for many patients’ treatments and for assisting with advanced clinical interventions
• Shift working with subsequent disturbance of sleep and eating patterns
• Dealing with distressed patients and relatives regarding issues including traumatic injuries and death, possibly on a large scale
• Potential exposure to conflict involving both physical and verbal abuse
• Working both indoors and outdoors in all weather conditions, day or night and in potentially unknown hostile or hazardous environments
• Frequent exposure to bodily fluids and unsanitary conditions

Applicants must meet minimum academic requirements to be short listed for a position and have to pass a fitness test and health screening before being offered a job.

Getting through the recruitment stage is not easy, but if you believe a job in emergency medical care is right for you, then it is worth it.