Saving countless lives on a daily basis

“To become a paramedic, you must be able to handle some of the most stressful and traumatic situations.”
Paramedic, Charles Dlisane, spoke to the Herald about everything you need to know about becoming a paramedic.
The good thing about being a paramedic is “being there for someone when they have no one. Being able to treat patients, educate the community and children in schools are the best parts of being a paramedic,” said Charles.
According to him, some of the challenges include having “critical patients and mass casualties with minimum ambulance personnel at the scene. It is also difficult to respond to calls that are far away or difficult to locate. It is just as stressful responding to emergencies when there’s a lot of traffic on the road because you can’t get there quickly enough,” he said.
According to Charles, the daily duties of a paramedic include going through a checklist to ensure that your jump bag is ready, check if the ECG is fully charged and there is oxygen in the ambulance.
“You also have to check if the ambulance is okay to travel. Then prepare yourself mentally and physically for incoming calls” he said.
After the patients are safe in hospital, “the ambulance is cleaned and we debrief and talk about everything that had happened, what we did and what we could have done,” Charles said.
You will be working 15 days a month, which is 180 hours, from 07:00 to 19:00 every day.
Counselling is available to anyone who may need it after a horrific scene.
To become a paramedic, you must have matriculated with a high APS score and must have mathematics, life sciences and physical sciences as your three major subjects in high school.
There are three different courses in this field that you can complete to become a paramedic. All these courses are available at any emergency care college. The first course is the emergency life support, which is a one month course and requires you to do 1000 hours of volunteering after you have finished it. You are a qualified paramedic after you finish this course. The second one you should also do if you want to go further up the ladder is the intermediate life support course, which is a three-month course. The final course is critical care assistance, which is a nine-month course. You have to start with the basic life support course before you can do the second or third course. They all require you to have completed your 1000 hours of volunteer work.
Another thing you need is a valid driver’s licence and a PDP (professional driving permit) because you are going to be transporting patients. Then you have to register with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). They will provide you with your licence to treat patients. The HPCSA also needs proof that you are up to date with the current curriculum.
After you matriculate, you can go straight to university if you do not want to go to an emergency care college. The government may advertise when they need more people at times; then they will pay for everything like the college but you will have to go through a selection process because not everyone will be chosen. While studying at university, you will get a diploma in emergency medical care, which will lead to registration as a paramedic with the HPCSA. This will qualify you as a paramedic, just like someone who has completed a nine-month course in critical assistance.
The salary may differ, depending on which sector you work in. If you have completed the basic life support course, you can expect to earn between R8,000 and R15,000 monthly. Once you have done the intermediate course, you can expect R15,000 to R20,000. With a critical care qualification, you can earn R20,000 and above. Working for the government comes with some benefits that some private companies may not offer.