EMT

Emergency medical services as we know them are young. In the early 1960s many American ambulances were run by funeral homes, because a hearse was the only vehicle that could carry a person lying down.

How EMS was born

The 1966 report Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society showed that a seriously injured soldier in Vietnam had a better chance of survival than a car-crash victim on an American highway. Congress responded with the Highway Safety Act of 1966, which set standards for ambulance training and equipment. Pittsburgh's Freedom House Ambulance Service, staffed largely by young Black men from the Hill District, trained some of the first paramedics and helped write the national curriculum.

Levels of care

Emergency Medical Responder, EMT, Advanced EMT, Paramedic. The EMT provides basic life support: oxygen, CPR, defibrillation, bleeding control, splinting, and a few medications. The paramedic adds advanced airway, IV lines, cardiac monitoring and many more drugs.

The work

It is physical, irregular and emotional. EMTs lift patients down stairs, work nights and holidays, and see people on their worst day. Teams depend on each other. Many EMTs use the job as a first step toward nursing, physician assistant, fire service or medicine.

Learning it here

The EMT / Paramedic program covers anatomy, patient assessment, airway, cardiology, trauma, medical emergencies and special populations, with clinical rotations and ambulance ride-alongs. Credentials prepared: NREMT EMT and NREMT Paramedic.

Where it leads

Ambulance services, fire departments, emergency rooms, event medicine, industrial safety, and further health careers.