EMTs and Paramedics

37 EMS stations

New York City Fire Department

Emergency medical services (EMS) workers provide pre-hospital emergency medical care. Their duties create an inherent risk for on-the-job injuries and illnesses. Research shows that EMS workers have high rates of fatal injuries and nonfatal injuries and illnesses.

We estimated a rate of 12.7 fatalities per 100,000 EMS workers annually, which compares with 14.2 for police, 16.5 for firefighters, and a national average of 5.0 during the same time period.

Ambulance workers—including paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs)—work very dangerous jobs. They handle combative patients, have physically-demanding responsibilities, and are exposed to harmful substances every day. That is compared to two out of every 100 workers in all other jobs.

(FBHA), 119 firefighters and 20 EMTs and paramedics died by suicide in 2019.

There are an estimated 6,500 accidents involving ambulances each year. 35% of crashes resulted in injury or fatality to at least 1 occupant of a vehicle involved. When injuries occur, there are, on average, three unique injuries per accident. On average, 29 fatal ambulance accidents produce 33 fatalities each year.

At NHTSA, we analyzed data from the past 20 years and found that each year, the nation averages 29 fatal crashes involving an ambulance, resulting in an aver- age of 33 fatalities annually.

Most crashes and fatalities occurred during emergency use and at intersections. The greater burden of injury fell upon persons not in the ambulance. Rear compartment occupants were more likely to be injured than those in the front.

Crash risk increased when police vehicles drove with lights and sirens but did not increase for ambulance and fire vehicles. Further research is necessary to develop and evaluate strategies to mitigate crash risk among police vehicles.

Keith recently asked, “Why do I see some emergency vehicles traveling in communities with lights on, but no siren?” They usually aren’t in contact with heavy traffic and will shut their sirens off to not disturb the community or draw unneeded attention to their situation.”

For the Current Question: Ambulances sometimes transport a patient with only emergency lights showing (i.e., no siren; Code 2). That does not mean the patient is dead. It’s usually done to minimize stress on the patient being transported (and to a lesser extent, minimize stress on the medics).

United States. A Code 3 Response in the United States is used to describe a mode of response for an emergency vehicle responding to a call. It is commonly used to mean “use lights and siren”. In some agencies, Code 3 is also called a Hot Response. Code 1 is also called a Cold Response.

The lights are used to alert traffic that we have an emergency. We run the lights to get through the traffic, so we can get to the call or er. The lights are turned off for different reasons. To help us hear better inside the ambulance, if we have stabilized the patient and traffic is clear and more.