Paramedic-Full Time

Paramedic - Full Time

Provides advanced prehospital emergency assessment, treatment, and transportation within the employee's current Georgia Paramedic license, authorized scope of practice, medical direction, approved clinical guidelines, and departmental procedures. The Paramedic may serve as the clinician responsible for patient care and provide clinical direction to participating personnel without acquiring personnel-management authority.

Essential Functions

• Responds to emergency and non-emergency requests for medical assistance and other assigned incidents.
• Performs comprehensive assessment and monitoring and provides basic and advanced life-support care within the Paramedic scope of practice, medical direction, and approved clinical guidelines.
• Establishes clinical priorities, selects authorized treatment strategies, evaluates response, and obtains medical-control consultation or additional resources when required.
• Determines or coordinates patient destination and specialty-resource needs under approved destination procedures, regional requirements, and medical direction.
• Directs patient-care activity when serving as the responsible clinician, consistent with each participant's role, license, scope, and training.
• Moves and transports patients using trained techniques, available personnel, and approved patient-handling equipment.
• Operates ambulances and assigned vehicles under applicable law, County driver requirements, training, and departmental procedure.
• Completes accurate, timely, authenticated ePCR and transfer-of-care documentation.
• Maintains assigned medication security, counts, storage, use, waste, replacement, expiration, discrepancy, and documentation controls; promptly reports discrepancies through approved channels.
• Inspects, restocks, cleans, disinfects, and decontaminates vehicles, medical equipment, safety equipment, supplies, and work areas under approved procedures.

Additional Responsibilities

• Participates in continuing education, competency activities, meetings, community education, training, and departmental events.
• Maintains assigned stations, vehicles, equipment, medication records, and operational documentation.
• Performs other related duties consistent with the position's purpose, classification, licensure, delegated authority, and applicable wage-and-hour rules.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has no formal administrative or personnel-management responsibilities solely by virtue of the Paramedic classification. Clinical direction during patient care does not include independent authority to hire, discipline, evaluate, approve leave or payroll, or make final employment decisions.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of advanced prehospital assessment and treatment, medication administration and accountability, medical direction, clinical guidelines, destination procedures, patient movement, documentation, infection control, scene safety, and ambulance operations.
• Ability to integrate assessment and diagnostic information, establish treatment priorities, reassess patients, and recognize when consultation or additional resources are required.
• Ability to direct patient-care activity while respecting each participant's authorized role and scope.
• Ability to secure medications and document counts, administration, waste, replacement, expiration, and discrepancies accurately.
• Ability to operate ePCR, communications, monitoring, medication-delivery, patient-moving, navigation, and other assigned systems.
• Ability to protect patient information and communicate professionally during stressful or hazardous conditions.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or recognized equivalent and successful completion of an approved Paramedic education program.
• No prior EMS experience is required by the submitted source.
• An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience that provides the required knowledge and abilities may be considered, subject to Human Resource Services review; required professional licenses and certifications may not be substituted.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous EMS experience.

Required Licenses and Certifications

• Georgia Paramedic license - Maintain current, unrestricted status and comply with applicable Georgia EMS requirements.
• BLS/CPR certification recognized by the Department - Maintain current status.
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support certification recognized by the Department - Maintain current status.
• Valid driver's license - Maintain a valid license and satisfy County driver requirements.

Work Schedule and Availability

Assigned EMS shift schedule, including nights, weekends, holidays, extended incidents, training, and approved overtime or call-back. FLSA status is pending HR review; unless and until a lawful exemption is established, all working time must be recorded and compensated.

Physical and Environmental Requirements

• Stand and walk, including on uneven terrain - Frequently - Reach patients, vehicles, equipment, and incident locations.
• Bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, reach, climb, and balance - Frequently - Assess, treat, access, and move patients in vehicles, structures, and difficult locations.
• Push, pull, lift, carry, and move patients and equipment - Frequently; substantial exertion may be required - Use available personnel, stretchers, lifting devices, and approved patient-handling equipment. The Department must validate any numerical lifting standard.
• Sit and operate an ambulance or assigned vehicle - Frequently - Respond to and transport from incidents after required driver authorization and training.
• Read monitors, medication labels, records, maps, warning indicators, and electronic systems; hear and exchange communications - Frequently - Assess patients, provide authorized care, navigate, recognize hazards, and communicate during routine and emergency operations, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Work Environment

Work occurs in ambulances, stations, healthcare facilities, roadways, residences, public places, and incident scenes. It may involve weather extremes, traffic, noise, poor lighting, unstable terrain, confined areas, violence, bodily fluids, infectious disease, smoke, chemicals, moving equipment, and other emergency hazards. Employees must use assigned protective equipment and follow exposure-control, scene-safety, and decontamination procedures.

Disclaimer

Effingham County will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable performance of the essential functions of the position, consistent with applicable law.