Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code SRI
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.
Also called: Critical Care Paramedic, Firefighter Paramedic, First Responder, Flight Paramedic.
O*NET 29-2043.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $60,600
- Middle half earn $49,660 to $73,470. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Perform emergency cardiac care, such as cardioversion and manual defibrillation.
- Perform emergency invasive intervention before delivering patient to an acute care facility.
- Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
- Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
- Comfort and reassure patients.
- Administer first aid treatment or life support care to sick or injured persons in prehospital settings.
- Operate equipment, such as electrocardiograms (EKGs), external defibrillators, or bag valve mask resuscitators, in advanced life support environments.
- Perform emergency pharmacological interventions.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.8 / 5
- Active Listening3.6 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.5 / 5
- Speaking3.5 / 5
- Monitoring3.5 / 5
- Active Learning3.4 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Medicine and Dentistry4.5 / 5
- English Language4.2 / 5
- Public Safety and Security3.9 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5
- Biology3.7 / 5
- Education and Training3.7 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic70
- Investigative67
- Artistic0
- Social75
- Enterprising15
- Conventional40
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- paramedic in emergency responses · DE Notfallsanitäter/Notfallsanitäterin · FR technicien médical des services d’urgence/technicienne médicale des services d’urgence
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Paramedics (2255)37,800 employed
- Ambulance staff (excluding paramedics) (6132)31,800 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
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