| Understanding EMT Scope of Practice in Pennsylvania
When you call 911, an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) may be the first healthcare professional to arrive. EMTs provide important prehospital emergency care while working within their certification level, Pennsylvania EMS protocols, agency policies, and medical direction.
What Can EMTs Do?
Assess patients — Check vital signs, obtain medical histories, identify life-threatening conditions, and determine appropriate care.
Manage airways and breathing — Provide oxygen, assist ventilations, suction when appropriate, and use approved airway equipment.
Provide lifesaving care — Perform CPR, use an AED, and provide other authorized emergency interventions.
Control severe bleeding — Apply pressure, dressings, tourniquets, and other approved bleeding-control techniques.
Administer certain medications — Depending on Pennsylvania protocols and the situation, EMTs may administer or assist with medications used for conditions such as severe allergic reactions, low blood sugar, opioid overdose, and suspected cardiac emergencies.
Treat injuries — Provide care for fractures, dislocations, burns, wounds, and other traumatic injuries, including appropriate splinting and stabilization.
Monitor and transport patients — Continue assessing and treating patients throughout transport while communicating important information to the receiving hospital.
Consult medical direction — Contact authorized medical direction when additional guidance or treatment orders are needed.
More Than an Ambulance Driver
EMTs are trained emergency healthcare providers. Their role is to assess, treat, stabilize, monitor, and transport patients during some of the most critical moments of their lives.
It's important to remember that not every EMT can perform every procedure or administer every medication. What an EMT may do depends on their certification level, Pennsylvania EMS protocols, agency policies, and medical direction.
When you call 911, your EMT is there to begin your care—not simply to drive you to the hospital. |
