Basic life support (BLS)

First responder

An emergency worker (Police Officer, Firefighter, Ambulance Volunteer) whose duties include provision of immediate life-saving care in the event of a medical emergency; commonly advanced first aid, oxygen administration, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and automated external defibrillator (AED) usage. The first responder training is considered a bare minimum for emergency service workers who may be sent out in response to an emergency call. First responders are commonly dispatched by the ambulance service to arrive quickly and stabilize the patient before an ambulance can arrive and to then assist the ambulance crew.

Ambulance driver

Most jurisdictions require two licensed pre-hospital providers to operate a licensed ambulance. Some jurisdictions separate the driver and attendant functions, employing ambulance driving staff with no medical qualification (or just a first aid certificate), whose job is to drive ambulances. While this approach persists in some countries, such as India, it is generally becoming increasingly rare. Ambulance drivers may be trained in radio communications, ambulance operations and emergency response driving skills.

Ambulance care assistant

Ambulance Care Assistants (ACAs) have varying levels of training across the world. In many countries, such staff are usually only required to perform patient transport duties (which can include stretcher or wheelchair cases), rather than acute care. However, there remain both countries and individual jurisdictions in which economics will not support ALS service, and the efforts of such individuals may represent the only EMS available. Dependent on the provider (and resources available), they may be trained in first aid or extended skills such as use of an AED, oxygen therapy, pain relief and other live-saving or palliative skills. In some services, they may also provide emergency cover when other units are not available, or when accompanied by a fully qualified technician or paramedic.

Emergency medical technician

Emergency medical technicians, also known as Ambulance Technicians in the UK and EMT in the United States. In the United States, EMT is usually made up of 3 levels. EMT-B, EMT-I (EMT-A in some states) and EMT-Paramedic. The National Registry of EMT New Educational Standards for EMS renamed the provider levels as follows: Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Advanced EMT (AEMT), and Paramedic. EMTs are usually able to perform a wide range of emergency care skills, such as Automated defibrillation, care of spinal injuries and oxygen therapy. In few jurisdictions, some EMTs are able to perform duties as IV and IO cannulation, administration of a limited number of drugs, more advanced airway procedures, CPAP, and limited cardiac monitoring. Most advanced procedures and skills are not within the national scope of practice for an EMT. As such most states require additional training and certifications to perform above the national curriculum standards. In the US, an EMT certification requires intense courses and training in field skills. A certification expires after two years and holds a requirement of taking 48 CEUs (continuing education credits). 24 of these credits must be in refresher courses while the other 24 can be taken in a variety ways such as emergency driving training, pediatric, geriatric, or bariatric care, specific traumas, etc.

Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician

Some emergency medical technicians, known as Wilderness Emergency Medical Technicians (WEMTs), are trained with protocols adapted for the non-urban, backcountry environments (remote, austere, or resource-deficient areas). Not formally referred to as such, wilderness EMS-like systems (WEMS) have been developed to deliver standardization and professionalism to medical responses and education in the wilderness arena. Examples include the international safety organization, the National Ski Patrol or the regional-responding Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference (USA based). Like traditional EMS providers, all wilderness emergency medical (WEM) providers must still operate under on-line or off-line medical oversight. To assist physicians in the skills necessary to provide this oversight, the Wilderness Medical Society and the National Association of EMS Physicians jointly supported the development in 2011 of a unique Wilderness EMS Medical Director certification course, which was cited by the Journal of EMS as one of the Top 10 EMS Innovations of 2011. Skills taught in WEMT courses exceeding the EMT-Basic scope of practice include catheterization, antibiotic administration, use of intermediate Blind Insertion Airway Devices (i.e. King Laryngeal Tube), Nasogastric Intubation, and simple suturing;  however, the scope of practice for the WEMT still falls under BLS level care. A multitude of organizations provide WEM training, including private schools,^{[55][56][57][58][59]} non-profit organizations such as the Appalachian Center for Wilderness Medicine ^[60] and the Wilderness EMS Institute,military branches, community colleges and universities, EMS-college-hospital collaborations, and others.

Emergency medical dispatcher

An emergency medical dispatcher is also called an EMD. An increasingly common addition to the EMS system is the use of highly trained dispatch personnel who can provide pre-arrival instructions to callers reporting medical emergencies. They use carefully structured questioning techniques and provide scripted instructions to allow callers or bystanders to begin definitive care for such critical problems as airway obstructions, bleeding, childbirth, and cardiac arrest. Even with a fast response time by a first responder measured in minutes, some medical emergencies evolve in seconds. Such a system provides, in essence, a zero response time, and can have an enormous impact on positive patient outcomes.