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Working as an Emergency Medical Technician or EMT and paramedic is indeed a prestigious job. It gets you a superb salary. And, the job itself commands a lot of respect. That’s because EMTs are usually the first responders at any accident or disaster site, crime scene and medical emergency.
As a matter of fact, EMTs and paramedics are known to save lives when a person requires critical medical care due to some emergency such as an accident or health problem.
However, a lot of EMTs wish to drop out of their professions. They don’t wish to remain as first responders anymore, for many reasons. In such cases, it’s natural, they would look for other alternative jobs available for EMTs and paramedics.
If you’re an EMT or paramedic, as they’re known, and want to leave your job or wish to change your career, there are as many as 20 alternative jobs available. Yes, as many as 20 different options.
Therefore, continue reading, as I will discuss these top 20 alternative jobs for EMTs and paramedics in this article.
Let’s begin by looking at some of the main reasons why EMTs and paramedics leave their jobs and look for a career change. That could help you to choose properly from my list of 20 alternative jobs for EMTs and paramedics.
Reasons EMTs and Paramedics Leave Job
Actually, there could be a number of reasons why you wish to leave your prestigious job as an EMT or paramedic and look for a change in your career. However, there’re some reasons that most paramedics and EMTs leave jobs. Maybe, one of these is your reason to look for a career change.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD can prove to be a severe mental disorder, unless treated on time by a qualified and experienced psychiatrist. Research proves that EMTs and paramedics are prone to suffer PTSD. That’s because they’re first responders, as I mentioned before.
However, PTSD isn’t something that only EMTs and paramedics suffer. As a matter of fact, a lot of other first responders also suffer from PTSD. These include frontline journalists and photographers, cops, military personnel, surgeons, and nurses.
That’s because they see gory sights of bloodied victims of disasters or wars or crime. Or, because they see the relatives and the victims in grief and pain.
The memories of their work remain in their mind and manifest later as stress. It develops into minor anxieties, depression, and other symptoms such as lack of sleep. Let this untreated; it can lead to severe mental problems.
A lot of EMTs and paramedics leave their jobs because they’re taking treatment for PTSD and don’t wish to go back to such work anymore. Others leave simply because the sights are too much for them to bear.
Working in Shifts
Almost every EMT and paramedic work on shifts. That’s because the 911 service in the USA is available round the clock. There’re no guarantees when a 911 call would come and the EMT and paramedic would have to rush to the scene with an ambulance, to assist the patient or a victim.
Consequently, a lot of EMTs or paramedics feel the stress. They’re unable to adapt easily to family life because they need to be working at all odd hours. Often, these job demands clash with family life, and hence, they wish to choose an alternative career.
If this is your case, you might be looking for a career change. Therefore, my list of 20 alternative jobs for EMTs and paramedics would definitely prove useful.
Retirement
Often, EMTs and paramedics retire early. They choose retirement before reaching the official age of 62 years. The paramedic or EMT might wish to find another job to earn an income in such cases.
Instead of staying home, unemployed, they wish to make better use of their time and utilize their skills and educational qualifications for some other job.
Again, if you have an EMT or paramedic certification, there’s nothing really to worry about. I’ll repeat that there’re 20 alternative jobs for EMTs and paramedics, that you can easily find from my list. You could select one of these, depending on your personal needs such as suitable work hours and pay scales.
Part Time Work
If you’re an EMT or paramedic and want to boost your income, you can also take any of these 20 jobs that I will be writing about. Some of these jobs can be done from home, or, with flexible working hours. You could select one, depending on how many hours you could work daily, on such a part-time job.
Actually, there’s a huge demand for skills and experiences of a paramedic in the freelance and part-time work markets. Therefore, you won’t be short of any opportunities to work during your free time.
Such jobs also pay well and, in some cases, the maximum time you would have to give is four to six hours, if possible.
Lack of Opportunities
Maybe you’re a graduate in Emergency Medicine and can’t find enough or good opportunities as an EMT or paramedic in your city. And, you don’t wish to relocate to another place. In such cases, too, you can use your educational qualifications to find an alternative job for EMTs and paramedics.
Here, it’s worth knowing that EMTs and paramedics are usually in great demand. However, in some places in USA, the demand can be poor or even, none. In such cases, the best option is to use your educational qualifications and find an alternative job too,
Of course, you could have your own reasons to leave a job as an EMT or paramedic. Regardless, let’s now proceed to discuss the top 20 alternative jobs for EMTs and paramedics.
Top 20 Alternative Jobs For EMTs and Paramedics
As promised earlier, here’re the 20 top alternative jobs and career options for EMTs and paramedics. These jobs are available easily across the USA. As a matter of fact, some such jobs would be available near you too, if you check online or apply offline too.
Here’s my curated list of these 20 alternative jobs for EMTs and paramedics.
1. Medical Transcriptionist
In my honest opinion, the job of a medical transcriptionist is the best for former EMTs and paramedics. That’s because you can work from home with flexible hours.
And you would surely know some of the complex medical words and terms that doctors use while speaking with their peers or patients. The job involves listening to the raw audio of these talks and making concise transcripts.
2. Medical Secretary
A medical secretary is someone that maintains records of patients, including transcripts of talks and keeps them ready for reference. This job mainly involves filing such documents for a clinic or hospital.
As an EMT or paramedic, you will find this job suitable since it doesn’t involve any stress. Obviously, this is also a job where you can work in shifts, if you choose. Or, you can opt for a nine-to-five job too.
3. Phlebotomist
Phlebotomists draw blood from patients for testing at labs. They also assist donors in blood donations as well as patients receiving blood transfusions. As an EMT and paramedic, you would have definitely given some intravenous (IV) drips to victims and patients.
These skills are useful for the job of a phlebotomist. Furthermore, you also have to deliver blood samples to labs on time, which is an experience you would have as an EMT or paramedic.
4. Lab Assistant
Lab Assistants, as the name suggests, work in labs to test specimens such as blood, sputum, and others. While a microbiologist will test these samples, your job is to prepare these specimens for testing and file reports where necessary.
You would also have to keep stock of various chemicals and reagents used in tests and order when necessary. Furthermore, the job also involves coordinating with doctors and hospitals when test results are ready.
5. Mortuary Assistant
A mortuary assistant’s job isn’t pleasant by any means. Yet, it pays a lot of money. This job involves tagging and maintaining bodies at proper temperatures, embalming or preserving them using chemicals, handing over bodies to relatives, keeping death records provided by a doctor or hospital and similar things.
For the effort, mortuary assistants draw a lot of salary. However, this job is only for people that’s comfortable in handling human remains.
6. Forensic Assistant
For the uninitiated, forensics is the scientific investigation of crime. There’re skilled forensic experts that work at lab to detect various signs and pieces of evidence of the crime. Your job is to assist them.
These tasks can include taking specimens from cadavers or crime scenes and disaster zones, helping forensic experts to conduct analysis and filing reports under their directions, about the findings. It also involves coordination with law enforcement agencies on handing them reports and findings.
7. Deputy Pharmacist
Under US laws, a pharmacy has to run under the supervision of a qualified pharmacist. However, EMTs and paramedics can work directly as deputy pharmacists. That’s because EMTs and paramedic degrees are considered part of medicine and medical sciences.
Furthermore, you would have sufficient knowledge of medicines and medical equipment too. Your tasks are to maintain stocks and place orders, where necessary, while assisting in sales too.
8. Hospital Storekeeper
All hospitals require storekeepers. That’s because they keep a lot of stuff, from stretchers and gurneys to oxygen cylinders and critical equipment at stores. As a qualified EMT and paramedic, you would definitely have a lot of knowledge about hospital supplies.
This experience and knowledge definitely prove useful while applying for a job as a hospital storekeeper. You can look for work in shifts as well as straight duties, depending on needs.
9. Medical Representatives
Persons that promote medicines and medical equipment to doctors, clinics, hospitals and pharmacies on behalf of a company are broadly known as medical representatives, all over the world. Your job is to meet doctors and get them to prescribe medicines from your company.
You have to also ensure that pharmacies have enough stocks of your company’s medicines to meet demand from prescriptions and coordinate with the sales department for their supplies.
10. Surgery Room Attendant
If you’re comfortable seeing blood and parts of the human anatomy, look for jobs as a surgery room attendant. This is a very intricate job that requires full attention to minute details.
Your tasks are to check the body temperature of a patient undergoing surgery, provide the right resources to surgeons and provide any assistance to nurses attending the surgery. This job also allows you to work on shifts, if necessary.
11. Caregiver
Elderly people, persons with special needs, infants and neonates, and people who’ve undergone major surgeries or suffer from debilitating diseases need to be fed, cleaned, and given medication on time. This is the job of a caregiver.
Though it’s necessary to hold proper qualifications to work as a caregiver, this is a fantastic job that paramedics and EMTs can take, as a career change.
Working as a caregiver also gives you the option of working freelance or fulltime. There’re several companies and websites where you can register as a caregiver.
12. Nurse
EMTs and paramedics also qualify to work as female or male nurses. As a matter of fact, it’s very easy for an EMT and paramedic to take the qualifying test and get certifications to work as a nurse. You needn’t undergo the entire nursing course at a college or university.
In some places, an EMT or paramedic qualification is considered as superior to that of nursing. In these cases, you would only have to give a test and get the certifications. At some other places, you qualify directly to work as a nurse.
13. Emergency Room Despatcher
An emergency room dispatcher is someone that handles the fleet of Emergency Medical Services vehicles such as ambulances and sends them to the right place. They coordinate between the patient or their kin and the vehicle as well as other paramedics on the condition of the patient.
They also dispatch ambulances to disaster zones and accidents and keep tabs of the time taken from a location to the site. This job requires working on shifts.
14. Emergency Room Technician
Emergency room technicians can be called as a designation between a nurse and a surgeon. They administer oxygen, IV fluids and other medication to victims and patients to save lives, till a team of doctors and nurses are available to attend to the case.
They also help in patient transport and other important tasks. This is a very crucial job and forms part of the Emergency Medical Services. It helps save lives.
15. Rescue Workers
Coast Guards and other rescue organizations require workers to save lives. In most cases, they prefer former or fresher EMT and paramedic graduates. You can look for very high pay if you have experience in removing victims and patients facing emergencies, through helicopter ambulances.
This job is very important and prestigious. It can often involve risking own life to save others. You might also have to provide some level of paramedic services to the rescued persons.
16. Offshore Medic
If you’re willing to work on oil rigs and offshore installations, the job of an offshore medic is just right for you. This is a very high-paying job since you’ll be staying away from home for prolonged periods.
You might also get opportunities to work on cargo ships and cruise liners alongside doctors on board. This is a very interesting job too. That’s because you might get opportunities to visit foreign lands free of cost as part of the crew. This job can prove stressful if you’re the proverbial landlubber.
17. Industrial Medic
As this term suggests, industrial medics work at factories, warehouses and similar installations. The tasks are similar to an EMT and paramedic.
However, some tasks will differ because you would be assisting safety managers to implement measures to safeguard human lives against industrial accidents. Those working in potentially hazardous industries such as chemical production can expect more pay.
18. Veterinary Technician
If you love pets or wild animals, look for jobs as a veterinary technician. This is a job where you assist vets to give various treatments to sick or ill pets or wild animals at zoos and national parks.
In the cases of wild animals, you might have to oversee their transportation to a vet hospital, if necessary for further treatment. This job doesn’t really involve much effort and can prove rather relaxing, if you’re looking for such work. At the same time, it pays well and you needn’t work on shifts.
19. Emergency Equipment Technician
Normally, you would learn how to handle and repair emergency medical equipment, during the EMT and paramedic course. Therefore, your qualifications make it possible for you to work as an emergency equipment technician too.
This job involves maintaining all equipment in superb condition and doing minor repairs where necessary. The job also can involve keeping stock of emergency equipment at a store and ensuring they’re fit for use, if the need arises.
20. Radiology Technician
In simple words, a radiology technician is a person that operates an X-ray machine, sonography and CT scan equipment, among other such stuff. They have skills in using these machines to get proper diagnostic results that any doctor or surgeon asks.
This is also a very prestigious and important job. You might get opportunities to work on shifts at this job, if you’ll get employed at a hospital. The pay scales are fairly good since you will be assisting radiologists in various processes and diagnostic checks on patients.
Salaries from Alternative Jobs for EMTs and Paramedics
There’re no exact figures on how much pay you can expect from any of these 20 alternative jobs for EMTs and paramedics. However, Payscale.com and Salary.com peg the average annual pay at $48,260. However, this amount of pay can depend on your location and nature of work.
Wrap Up
A lot of people would have doubts about the salaries for these positions. Obviously, in some cases, they wouldn’t be as high as that of an EMT or paramedic, due to lower stress levels. However, you can expect very good packages to start with.
The pay also depends on your location and experience as EMT and paramedic. Your pay will increase as you continue working for more years in these fields. Hence, there’s nothing to worry.
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