Paramedic job description
63 verified openings in Paramedic
Paramedic programs will not enroll you without EMT-Intermediate certification already in hand. They add anatomy and physiology, EKG interpretation, airway management, and supervised field experience on top, usually at a community college as a nondegree award or an associate degree, and what it buys is scope of practice: advanced airway management, intravenous fluids, and medication administration on top of everything an EMT does. Local government and ambulance services each employ 38 percent of the occupation's 102,200 jobs, which puts public pay scales and pension structures in play. The median was $60,600 in May 2025, $44,230 at the tenth percentile and $84,850 at the ninetieth, against an EMT median of $44,470.
Core Duties and Responsibilities
Emergency calls are the visible half. Paramedics assess the nature and extent of an illness or injury, prioritize the procedures, give drugs orally, by injection, or intravenously, and coordinate with the receiving treatment center to gather vital statistics and medical history before the patient gets there. Between emergencies, crews move patients from one facility to another, and decontaminating the ambulance after an infectious case is part of the shift. Some paramedics fly with air ambulance crews; flight paramedic is one of only three job titles O*NET records for the occupation, alongside paramedic and first responder.
Common Skills and Technologies
O*NET carries no skill ratings for paramedics and only a short technology list: eClinicalWorks EHR and MEDITECH on the records side, and Microsoft Office. What separates the role is the clinical equipment, EKGs among it, with advanced life support as the ceiling of the O*NET description. Comfort and reassurance are on the task list right beside the drugs, which is a fair picture of the work.
Education, Training, and Career Path
This is O*NET Job Zone Three, the medium-preparation band, though the real gate is the certification prerequisite rather than the classroom time. Every state licenses paramedics, typically on the back of certification exams; a driver's license is expected, and some employers prefer ambulance driver certification as well. Employment is projected to rise 6 percent, to 108,000 jobs by 2035. The Army's 68W combat medic specialty crosswalks here as well as to EMT work, and it arrives with field experience most civilian candidates cannot match.
Sources: O*NET 30.0, 29-2043.00 Paramedics, https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-2043.00. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 29-2043, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes292043.htm.