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Emergency care assistant

Description

Emergency medical technicians drive ambulances or assist the driver while transporting sick people or accident victims to a healthcare centre. They help the patient into and out of the ambulance, putting the vehicle in the correct position and the right distance away, depending on the severity of their injuries. They make patients comfortable within the ambulance, placing them in the right position according to their condition and ensuring they are transported in the best condition possible. Advanced life support ambulances (UVI-Mvil ambulances) are staffed by healthcare professionals (medics and nurses) in order to provide care en route. Should assistance be required from an emergency medical technician, the rest of the staff follows his or her orders. Conventional ambulances, however, don't require the presence of these professionals and it is the emergency medical technician who intervenes in the case of a possible emergency, where the patient is in a particularly bad condition. They provide basic, immediate care and under no circumstances do they administer medicine, use materials or treatments which require cutting through body tissues, or make decisions which correspond to other professionals such as doctors or nurses.

Tasks

  • Responsible for maintainenance of vehicles, communications systems and stretcher.
    Check the mechanical, electrical and security features of the vehicle on a daily basis, and help apply the maintenace plan for facilities and equipment. Should you detect any issues, note them down on the daily check sheet, inform the person in charge of the service and perform basic maintenance operations in order to resolve them.
    Ensure the cleanliness of the vehicle, desinfecting medical material and the patient care compartment. Discard organic and organic waste that is a product of the care administerd in the appropriate containers, depending on the type of waste, pollution-related issues, and established protocols.
  • Monitor the supplies of general and medical material in the vehicle (depending on the level of care it delivers), as well as signalling material, portable lighting and self-protection equipment. Order the necessary material. Check documentation (licences and permits, maps and street guides, forms and care notifications).
    Carry out appropriate quality control. Interpret standardised work protocols and perform the necessary actions to ensure these are complied with.
  • Transport the patient to a medical centre and when emergencies occur on public roads, create a safe environment for the victims and for medical professionals to work in (position of and distance from vehicle, signalling)
    Ensure the patient can access the ambulance safely, and place him/her in a suitable position. Where necessary, immobilise the patient, ensuring a safe and comfortable journey. Secure objects that could move around and harm the patient during the journey.
    Take the most appropriate route, bearing in mind issues such as distance, road condition, traffic saturation and weather conditions. Drive so as to ensure the patient's condition does not deterioriate and bearing in mind adverse road and/or weather conditions and making reasonable use of sirens. During the journey, monitor the patient's condition and inform the coordinating centre of any changes for the worse that necessitate a change in the transport conditions.
  • Inform the patient and relatives of the transport conditions and approximate journey time. Warn the patient of the possible need to use sirens, in order to avoid heightening his/her level of distress.
    Be aware of the legal regulations in relation to the patient's autonomy and freedom, as well as well as professional confidentiality and data protection laws. Respect the patient's wishes with regards to being transported or not, and record and inform the relevant authority should the patient refuse to be taken. Keep an eye on and take responsibility for the patient's personal belongings.
    On arrival at the medical centre, brief the triage manager about the patient's condition and give him/her the patient's care chart.
  • Provide basic life support (ventilation or circulation) in line with established protocols, help to administer advanced life support where necessary (helping the doctor and/or nurse with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and the preparation and administration of medicine) and provide basic care in other emergency situations (injuries, convulsive seizures, imminent childbirth, altered states of consciousness...) in line with established protocols.
    Place the patient in the right position, clean and clear the airway, and, following instructions from the coordinating centre, administer oxygen to those patients who so require.
    Apply hemostatic techniques in order to stop external hemorrhages, as well as performing external heart massage, and using an external defibrillator.
  • In emergency situations, offer psychological and social support to patients, establishing fluid communication, answering any questions you can, and conveying confidence. In life-threatening situations, offering psychological support to family members and keep them fully informed.

Quick access and copyright:

Centre per al desenvolupament professional Porta22

Barcelona Treball (Porta22)
Llacuna, 156-162, 08018 Barcelona
bcn.cat/treball

900533175
Monday to Friday from 9 to 18 h

Generalitat de Catalunya
Unió Europea FEDER
Unió Europea FSE