Emergency Medical Technicians

A look at the work

• Administer first aid treatment or life support care to sick or injured persons in prehospital settings.
• Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
• Attend training classes to maintain certification licensure, keep abreast of new developments in the field, or maintain existing knowledge.
• Comfort and reassure patients.
• Communicate with dispatchers or treatment center personnel to provide information about situation, to arrange reception of survivors, or to receive instructions for further treatment.
• Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
• Decontaminate ambulance interior following treatment of patient with infectious disease, and report case to proper authorities.
• Drive mobile intensive care unit to specified location, following instructions from emergency medical dispatcher.

A selection of source-listed tasks; duties vary by role and employer.

Interests involved in this work

These source scores describe occupational work activities. They are separate from your personal test results.

Skills to explore

Source-reported importance on a 1–5 scale. Try a course, project or conversation to learn what these skills involve.

Skill observations are not available in the current source release.

Plan a small next step

Talk to someone doing this work, look for a supervised activity, and explore the subjects that interest you. Admission, licensing and current program requirements should be confirmed with the relevant institutions.

Source preparation category: Job Zone 3 of 5 · 2021-11. This category describes typical preparation, not your eligibility.

Related study fields

Source crosswalk connections are research leads, not required qualifications.

Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic) →

Source & methodology

O*NET-SOC code 29-2042.00 · Database 31.0 · Retrieved Oct 14, 2026. Dates on individual observations describe their source periods.

Data: O*NET® 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Used under CC BY 4.0. StudyIndex normalizes the presentation and adds exploration features; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions.