Emergency medical dispatcher to patient transport services driver
An emergency medical dispatcher already meets 25% of what the patient transport services driver role asks for. The move turns on 11 required skills not yet in the profile.
71.3/ 100
1 How much of what a patient transport services driver is expected to do is already part of an emergency medical dispatcher’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the patient transport services driver role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A patient transport services driver role treats 4 of its required skills as things an emergency medical dispatcher already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- comply with legislation related to health care
- local geography
- operate an emergency communication system
What stands in the way is 11 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 6 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A patient transport services driver role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an emergency medical dispatcher background worth leading with.
- already held local geography natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held operate an emergency communication system working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held health care legislation business, administration and law
- already held comply with legislation related to health care assisting and caring
- already held adhere to organisational guidelines assisting and caring
All 6 carried skills, including the 4 the patient transport services driver role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn assist passengers required
- still to learn transfer patients required
- optional, not held assist patients with special needs optional
- optional, not held assist social service users with physical disabilities optional
- optional, not held empathise with the healthcare user optional
- still to learn follow verbal instructions required
- still to learn follow written instructions required
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- still to learn maintain vehicle appearance required
- still to learn maintain vehicle service required
- still to learn drive ambulance under non-emergency conditions required
- still to learn transport allocated patients required
- still to learn mechanical components of vehicles required
- still to learn complete patient journey records required
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a patient transport services driver role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 complete patient journey records practise this
- 02 drive ambulance under non-emergency conditions practise this
- 03 transport allocated patients practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 6 skills that carry over
- already held adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held local geography knowledge
- already held operate an emergency communication system skill
- already held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers skill
- already held health care legislation knowledge
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn licences regulation required
- optional, not held first aid optional
- optional, not held older adults' needs optional
- optional, not held resuscitation optional
- optional, not held apply numeracy skills optional
8 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held assist patients with special needs optional
- optional, not held apply numeracy skills optional
- optional, not held assist social service users with physical disabilities optional
- optional, not held empathise with the healthcare user optional
- optional, not held first aid optional
- optional, not held older adults' needs optional
- optional, not held resuscitation optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
22 held skills the patient transport services driver role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role answer emergency calls skill
- not needed by the target role communicate verbal instructions skill
- not needed by the target role comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- not needed by the target role coordinate with other emergency services skill
- not needed by the target role customer service knowledge
- not needed by the target role dispatch ambulance skill
- not needed by the target role health care system knowledge
- not needed by the target role listen actively skill
- not needed by the target role log emergency call information electronically skill
- not needed by the target role manage dispatch software systems skill
- not needed by the target role manage multiple patients simultaneously skill
- not needed by the target role medical dispatch knowledge
- not needed by the target role medical terminology knowledge
- not needed by the target role observe confidentiality skill
- not needed by the target role personnel planning in emergency response skill
- not needed by the target role prioritise emergencies skill
- not needed by the target role professional documentation in health care knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide advice to emergency callers skill
- not needed by the target role show intercultural awareness skill
- not needed by the target role support distressed emergency callers skill
- not needed by the target role tolerate stress skill
- not needed by the target role work in multidisciplinary teams related to emergency care skill
5 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn mechanical components of vehicles required
- still to learn licences regulation required
- optional, not held first aid optional
- optional, not held older adults' needs optional
- optional, not held resuscitation optional
Other moves recorded from emergency medical dispatcher
Common questions about this move
Can an emergency medical dispatcher become a patient transport services driver?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An emergency medical dispatcher already covers 25% of what a patient transport services driver is expected to do: 6 skills carry over, 4 of which the patient transport services driver role treats as required.
What skills does an emergency medical dispatcher need to become a patient transport services driver?
11 required skills are missing, plus 8 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is complete patient journey records.
How hard is the move from emergency medical dispatcher to patient transport services driver?
Its learning distance is 71.3 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.