Ambulance drivers, helicopter pilots, critical care nurses, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians are all examples of patient transporters. Patient transportation jobs inside a hospital typically require fewer medical skills when the employee transports patients to different departments for tests or treatments. Driving a van to transport the elderly from nursing homes or assisted living centers to doctor appointments is a basic patient transporter job that is considered non-emergency.
Drivers who transport patients to labs or doctors’ offices are usually familiar with basic first aid and life-saving techniques. They usually know how to safely transport patients into and out of the van using basic medical equipment such as wheelchairs. Drivers are usually familiar with oxygen tanks and defibrillators, which are electronic devices that can restart a heart using an electrical current.
Patient transport jobs require varying levels of training, ranging from basic life support to advanced life support skills and specialized nursing knowledge. Patients who are critically ill and being transported between hospitals or from accident scenes may require intravenous fluids or medication during the journey. Others may require artificial ventilation under the supervision of a paramedic or nurse with advanced life support training.
Teams of patient transporters work together to care for critically ill patients in some jobs. Severely ill children are usually accompanied to the hospital nurses with specialized training in pediatrics or neonatal care. During an ambulance run, other teams specialize in cardiac patients, assessing their conditions and administering medication. Ambulances may also have respiratory therapists on board.
A pilot and an advanced life support team are two patient transporter jobs associated with an air ambulance. Helicopters are commonly used to transport patients from remote accident scenes to hospitals faster. They may be called to serious automobile accidents, natural disasters, and heart attacks.
A communications center is used most companies that specialize in moving patients. Calls may be transferred from emergency police operators to people working in these patient transportation jobs. While the patient is in transit, the communication center usually keeps in touch with hospitals, nurses, and doctors. The patient’s vital signs and extent of injuries are usually reported ambulance crews, along with the type of emergency care or medicine administered.
An internal patient transporter’s job entails transporting patients from one area of a hospital to another using a gurney, bed, or wheelchair. It could entail transferring patients from the intensive care unit to a regular hospital room or transporting them to the laboratory for testing. People in these positions typically receive first-aid training and learn how to properly operate medical equipment used to transport patients. They are usually trained on confidentiality issues as well as how to keep track of patients in logs.