Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians
Drive ambulance or assist ambulance driver in transporting sick, injured, or convalescent persons. Assist in lifting patients.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
- Social Perceptiveness
- Operation and Control
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Transportation
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Public Safety and Security
- Education and Training
- Psychology
- Telecommunications
What the work involves
- Drive ambulances or assist ambulance drivers in transporting sick, injured, or convalescent persons.
- Remove and replace soiled linens or equipment to maintain sanitary conditions.
- Place patients on stretchers, and load stretchers into ambulances, usually with assistance from other attendants.
- Accompany and assist emergency medical technicians on calls.
- Earn and maintain appropriate certifications.
- Replace supplies and disposable items on ambulances.
- Report facts concerning accidents or emergencies to hospital personnel or law enforcement officials.
- Administer first aid, such as bandaging, splinting, or administering oxygen.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Social, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (36.5% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (48%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (47.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 89% of occupations compared | 85% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 97% of occupations compared | 89% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 95% of occupations compared | 87% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 56% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 59% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 78% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 88% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 90% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 14.93%
- Constant contact with others: 85.07%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 10.94%
- Very important: 0%
- Extremely important: 89.06%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 1.59%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 11.52%
- Extremely important: 86.88%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 11.41%
- Limited freedom: 1.57%
- Some freedom: 43.82%
- A lot of freedom: 43.2%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 2.08%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 10.94%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.14%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.7%
- Every day: 44.13%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 3.14%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20.97%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 31.33%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 10.94%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.07%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 40.06%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 42.82%
- Every day: 15.05%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 9.76%
- Fairly serious: 12.32%
- Serious: 3.36%
- Very serious: 14.18%
- Extremely serious: 60.38%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 53-3011.00 · SOC 53-3011 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8