Paramedics
Administer basic or advanced emergency medical care and assess injuries and illnesses. May administer medication intravenously, use equipment such as EKGs, or administer advanced life support to sick or injured individuals.
Most important skills
- Service Orientation
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Medicine and Dentistry
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Customer and Personal Service
- Biology
- Education and Training
- Psychology
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Administer drugs, orally or by injection, or perform intravenous procedures.
- Administer first aid treatment or life support care to sick or injured persons in prehospital settings.
- Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
- Attend training classes to maintain certification licensure, keep abreast of new developments in the field, or maintain existing knowledge.
- Comfort and reassure patients.
- Coordinate with treatment center personnel to obtain patients' vital statistics and medical history, to determine the circumstances of the emergency, and to administer emergency treatment.
- Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
- Instruct emergency medical response team about emergency interventions to ensure correct application of procedures.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Realistic, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (41.9% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (45.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (29%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Paramedics 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 | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 54% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 87% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 51% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 86% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 74% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 90% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 90% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 96% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very 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: 6.67%
- Contact with others about half the time: 3.33%
- Contact with others most of the time: 30%
- Constant contact with others: 60%
n = 30, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 10%
- Very important: 40%
- Extremely important: 50%
n = 30, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 3.33%
- Important: 13.33%
- Very important: 36.67%
- Extremely important: 46.67%
n = 30, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 3.23%
- Some freedom: 35.48%
- A lot of freedom: 61.29%
n = 31, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 12.9%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.45%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 32.26%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.9%
- Every day: 35.48%
n = 31, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 41.94%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 48.39%
- Every day: 9.68%
n = 31, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 3.33%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 33.33%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 46.67%
- Every day: 16.67%
n = 30, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 6.45%
- Fairly serious: 0%
- Serious: 9.68%
- Very serious: 12.9%
- Extremely serious: 70.97%
n = 31, Occupational Expert 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 29-2043.00 · SOC 29-2043 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8