Becoming a Paramedic

Sophie Fuller is a paramedic, providing advanced lifesaving care to patients while safely transporting them to a hospital. For six years, she worked out of an ambulance. Today she’s a flight paramedic, traveling by helicopter to patients and hospitals. During emergencies, every second counts. Flight paramedics can reach remote places and move critically ill or injured patients faster than an ambulance. Read on to learn about Fuller’s job and what it takes to be a paramedic.

How does working as a flight paramedic compare with working on an ambulance? 

Working on an ambulance, you’re often responding to calls fairly consistently throughout a shift. The most I’ve ever had is 24 calls in 24 hours. As a flight paramedic, there’s more downtime, but the patients are often critically ill and in need of a higher level of care or rapid transport.

In both, the sense of camaraderie among all emergency medical workers is like nothing else.

What are some common emergencies you respond to? 

We regularly respond to serious motor vehicle crashes, heart attacks, strokes, respiratory failure, and critically ill pediatric patients. Flight paramedics also transfer patients from small hospitals to places with more specialized care.

What makes your job challenging? 

The amount of responsibility we have. You have to think several steps ahead and make decisions very quickly. You’re also caring for people and families on what may be one of the worst days of their lives, so there’s a human element.

What makes your job rewarding? 

I love how quickly we can help patients in emergency medicine. It can take just 10 minutes and a couple of interventions—whether an intubation (a procedure to keep airways open) or administering a blood transfusion—for a patient to be doing a lot better.