A volunteer EMT (emergency medical technician and/or paramedic) is a trained person who works for a variety of organizations to provide emergency medical care when it is required. Hospitals, fire departments, and ambulance companies are common places for volunteer EMTs to work, and there may be a high demand for these professionals. This is particularly true in small towns where emergency services aren’t needed on a regular basis. In these situations, the community may turn to volunteers for assistance if the need arises.
It would be a mistake to assume that because a volunteer EMT is untrained, he or she is not performing a paid job. There are various levels of EMT training. Anyone who will be a first responder to an accident or an emergency is usually required to have completed some training.
Furthermore, certification is required to work as an EMT in the United States, and certification cannot be obtained without training. As previously stated, there are various levels of training available, and many community colleges and four-year colleges offer various certification programs. The majority of volunteers will require at least some basic training (taking the shortest amount of time). An employer looking for volunteers may welcome an EMT who is licensed to perform more complex actions.
The volunteer EMT may assist in a variety of ways. At least as on-call workers, these professionals may put in a lot of hours per week. Other times, they may volunteer for two or three days per month. Days on call or at work may not be as busy as they think, depending on the organization they work for and the size of the community. However, even in a small community, accidents or illnesses can occur, and people may require assistance.
One of the oddities of volunteer EMT service is that it can happen in very small areas. Volunteers are most likely to assist people they know. Though EMT service in large cities can be extremely professional and fantastic, it may lack the familiarity that some patients believe is to their benefit. They might not want a neighbor to pick them up after they’ve purposefully hurt themselves, become ill from an illness they didn’t want to reveal, or simply done one of the many foolish acts that can result in injury.
It should be reassuring to know that, in most cases, any EMT, whether from a small town or a big city, paid or volunteer, is bound by patient confidentiality. In most cases, a volunteer EMT will not, and is legally unable to, discuss the patient’s condition with others. Small towns should be relieved that this is the case, as well as proud that members of their community are volunteering to help them in an emergency medical situation.