Patient transport jobs include ambulance drivers, helicopter pilots, critical care nurses, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians. These jobs require different levels of training and skills, from basic life support to advanced life support practices. Teams work together to care for critically ill patients, and communication centers maintain contact with hospitals, nurses, and doctors while the patient is in transit. Indoor patient transport jobs involve transporting patients within a hospital using medical equipment like stretchers, beds, or wheelchairs.
Patient transporter jobs include ambulance drivers, helicopter pilots, critical care nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians. Within a hospital, patient transport jobs often require less medical skills when the employee takes patients to various departments for tests or certain treatments. Basic patient transport jobs considered non-emergency may include driving a van to transport seniors from nursing homes or assisted living centers to doctor appointments.
Drivers taking patients for lab tests or medical appointments generally know basic first aid and lifesaving measures. They usually know how to use basic medical equipment like wheelchairs to safely move patients in and out of the van. Drivers generally know how to operate oxygen tanks and use defibrillators, electronic devices that can restart a heart using an electrical current.
Different levels of training apply to various patient transport jobs, from basic life support to advanced life support skills and specialized nursing knowledge. Critically ill patients transferred between hospitals or from accident scenes may need intravenous fluids or medications during the journey. Others may require artificial ventilation monitored by a paramedic or nurse trained in advanced life support practices.
In some patient transport jobs, teams work together to care for critically ill patients. Nurses with specialized training in pediatrics or neonatal care typically accompany critically ill children to the hospital. Other teams specialize in cardiac patients, assessing their condition and administering medication during an ambulance ride. Respiratory therapists may also be on board an ambulance.
Air ambulance related patient transporter jobs include a pilot and an advanced life support team. Helicopters often transport patients from remote accident scenes to expedite arrival at a hospital. They can be sent for serious car accidents, natural disasters and when heart attacks occur.
Most companies that specialize in moving patients operate a communications center. People working in these patient transport jobs can answer calls transferred from emergency police operators. The communication center typically maintains contact with hospitals, nurses and doctors while the patient is in transit. Emergency workers in the ambulance will usually report the patient’s vital signs and extent of injuries and explain the type of emergency care or medication administered.
An indoor patient transporter job usually involves a stretcher, bed or wheelchair to transport patients from one area of a hospital to another. It may consist of taking patients from the intensive care unit to a regular hospital room or moving patients to the laboratory for testing. People who hold these positions usually receive first aid training and learn to properly use the medical equipment used to transport patients. They are also often briefed on confidentiality issues and records to follow up with patients.
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