Emergency Medical Technician

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services. Common terms, obsolete in some cases, include ambulance driver, ambulance orderly, ambulance attendant and ambulanceman or woman.

The precise meaning of the term varies by jurisdiction, but in many countries EMTs respond to emergency calls, perform certain medical procedures and transport patients to hospital in accordance with protocols and guidelines established by physician medical directors. They may work in an ambulance service (paid or voluntary), as a member of technical rescue teams/squads, or as part of an allied service such as a fire or police department. EMTs are trained to assess a patient's condition, and to perform such emergency medical procedures as are needed to maintain a patent airway with adequate breathing and cardiovascular circulation until the patient can be transferred to an appropriate destination for advanced medical care. Interventions include cardiopulmonary resuscitation, defibrillation, controlling severe external bleeding, preventing shock, body immobilization to prevent spinal damage, and splinting of bone fractures.