There are times where accidents and injuries cannot be controlled or prevented. Situations such as this may be considered emergencies where the quickest response and medical approach is needed. To provide crucial services on critical times, paramedics together with their Advanced Life Support staff are the people fit for the job.
Advanced Life Support is a level of medical care stated by the National Health Service as the life-saving protocols and skills that extend Basic Life Support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation while the injured patient is being transferred to a hospital immediately.
The challenges of a paramedic involves massive pressure and specialised skills. In most countries, paramedics are considered emergency doctors who are required to have a license before being able to perform the tasks. Basically, what a paramedic needs to do is to monitor and improve the air passageway of a patient and its heart condition with the quickest and most effective way possible. Most of the paramedics tasks cannot be done by technicians without consent. To differentiate the mission of paramedics from the ambulance technicians, here is a list of their tasks:
Cardiac monitoring- continuous electrocardiography with assessment of the patients condition relative to 
their cardiac rhythm. Paramedics are qualified to interpret EKGs and they can interpret the patients heart conditions in order to assess what tasks are needed to be done while they are travelling. Basic emergency technicians operate electrodes and monitor the heart conditions but they cannot decide on how to tend the patient immediately.
Transcutaneous pacing- a process to stimulate the heart through delivering electric pulses to the chest. This is done on patients with an incredibly slow heart rate that may lead to cardiac arrest or worst, death.
Intravenous therapy- giving of substances through the vein. IV therapy is done by paramedics to correct electrolyte imbalances, deliver medications for blood transfusion or as fluid replacement to correct certain ailments within the body most especially dehydration.
Surgical cricothyrotomy- a very meticulous procedure that involves incision in order to provide an air passageway for the person to breathe normally. This procedure is usually the last resort in emergencies and is mostly done on severe circumstances such as obstruction by a foreign body, angioedema, or massive facial trauma.
Paediatric Advanced Life Support- a training and also a type of ALS that specializes in the handling of infant or children involved in an emergency situation. Skills include recognition and treatment of infants and children at risk for cardiopulmonary arrest; the systematic approach to paediatric assessment; effective respiratory management; defibrillation and synchronised cardioversion; intraosseous access and fluid bolus administration; and effective resuscitation team dynamics.
Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support- also an education program that trains paramedics to handle emergency patients who are traumatised by the recent tragedy or accident. This treatment is considered to take proper care of a unique entity with special needs and its treatment may vary from the traditional emergency medications because of the patient’s psychological effects and unstable presence of mind.
Overall, a paramedic’s dire mission is to improve the situation of the injured as it is being transported to the nearest health service centre. Together with the ambulance personnel, paramadics must provide the fastest and most efficient service in order to save and improve a life in trouble.
