An emergency care assistant is primarily a member of an emergency team or any other type of disaster team, such as a natural disaster or an accident, who are usually the first to respond whenever an incident necessitates their assistance. They are part of the very first, or what is also known as frontline, medical service in the medical field because they are usually the first responders whenever an incident occurs. Their primary responsibility is to collaborate with other members of an emergency response team in order to manage any situation efficiently and effectively. They may also be required to drive an ambulance and perform other duties such as lifting, transferring, and stabilizing patients.
An emergency care assistant’s responsibilities include driving an ambulance, which is the vehicle that an emergency team uses to respond to any incident and transport patients away from the scene of the emergency when necessary. Before the team responds to any emergency, the emergency care assistant must perform an outline check of the ambulance, as well as at the conclusion of any such response. Aside from vehicle operation, the emergency care assistant is expected to have knowledge of the various equipment on the ambulance, which the assistant would have learned as part of the qualification process for the position. This knowledge will come in handy whenever the crew responds to an incident in order to assist in the patient’s stabilization.
Another responsibility of the emergency care assistant is to assist in the protection of any incident victim from adverse conditions, as well as to move family, friends, and sympathizers away from the victim so that the crew can do their job. If an accident occurs in a remote or unusual location, the emergency care assistant will assist in removing the victim from the scene and transporting them to the ambulance. For example, if an emergency crew was dispatched to a hiker who had fallen from a mountain cliff, it would devise a method of safely rescuing the victim as well as transporting the victim to the nearest hospital for medical treatment. When the team arrives at the hospital, the assistant will assist in the transfer of the victim from the ambulance to the hospital.