A Paramedic is an advanced level medical professional who responds to and treats medical emergencies and trauma outside of a hospital.
Paramedics typically provide treatment on scene and during transportation to a hospital emergency department. Occasionally, paramedics treat conditions that do not require hospitalization, such as during public gatherings or other large events ("event standby"). They derive the legal authority to practice prehospital medical care in the field through the license of their physician medical director who is typically specialized in Emergency Medicine.
Paramedics serve as an out-of-hospital extension of emergency services typically offered by medical doctors within the hospital emergency department. As advanced care providers, they are the team leaders of prehospital care, which involves assuming control of treatment and directing the functions performed by EMTs and other medical responders.