A person trained in all aspects of first aid and emergency treatment and situations.
A trained paramedic who gives care to victims at the scene of an accident or in an ambulance.
An allied health professional with special training in on-site and in-transit care of injured and emergency medical patients (victims), and also in providing emergency care in the hospital emergency department (ED) if requested to. State regulations typically govern the use of specific titles for EMTs, the training required for each of several levels, supplementary training needed for special procedures (such as the administration of intravenous fluids, the insertion of a tube into a patient’s airway for assistance in breathing, the use of cardiac defibrillation equipment, and the like).
Person specially trained in prehospital care of the sick or injured patient; although the level of baseline education is specified by the Department of Transportation and typically is limited to basic life support (e.g., cardiopulmonary resuscitation, splinting, bandaging, extrication, spinal immobilization), certain states and localities allow EMTs to perform more advanced life support skills (e.g., administration of epinephrine to victims of anaphylactic shock, defibrillation); nationally, there is a strong trend to train all basic EMTs in defibrillation.
A person trained to transport individuals to the hospital in an emergency; some emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, provide basic emergency first aid. EMTs have varying degrees of training. The highest level of EMT training is associated with a paramedic, who performs advanced medical procedures at the scene of an emergency or in the ambulance on the way to a hospital.
An individual trained to administer emergency care in a variety of conditions, but esp. to patients who have suffered illnesses such as cardiac arrest, chest pain, stroke, or trauma. EMTs function in an EMS system, are certified by the state after completing instruction, and work under the authority of a supervising medical control physician, using treatment protocols approved by a medical advisory committee.