Emergency Medical Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 2% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 98% of the time, stays with people.
Assess injuries and illnesses and administer basic emergency medical care. May transport injured or sick persons to medical facilities.
180,510 people do this job in the US. $44,470 a year.
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work1 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people39 h
Emergency Medical Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 1 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 39 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Record and report the patient's condition (under an hour, a person checks); Decontaminate the ambulance and report (under an hour, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 0%
- 2%
- 2%
- 64%
- 32%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 2% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 2%. Today's estimate: 2%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.016% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 336th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 12 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0019% to 0.0012% (released February and March 2025); 0.002% to 0.00081% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.017% to 0.016% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0019% | 703 of 708 | 1 of 12 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0012% | 700 of 703 | 1 of 12 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.002% | 626 of 655 | 1 of 12 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0008% | 669 of 672 | 1 of 12 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.00081% | 673 of 677 | 1 of 12 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.017% | 327 of 434 | 1 of 12 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.016% | 336 of 447 | 1 of 12 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 65% of this job's working time as physical work. For 18% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 18% in a structured facility. 0.36 of 3, the 361st highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 35%
- No robot shown 47%
- In a structured facility 18%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
98% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Attend training to keep certification, the in-person work, 59%
- Maintain the vehicle and restock, the hands-on work, 11%
- Give first aid and life support, the hands-on work, 6%
- Decontaminate the ambulance and report, the hands-on work, 4%
- Perform emergency procedures in transit, the hands-on work, 4%
- Drive the ambulance, the hands-on work, 3%
What becomes checking the machine
2% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it.
- Record and report the patient's condition, severe if wrong, 1%
- Decontaminate the ambulance and report, severe if wrong, 1%
What to learn
- The conversations. About 65% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- The hands-on craft. About 32% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
- Signing off under your license. Some tasks need a licensed, certified or sworn person to do or sign them. The license, and the judgment it stands for, stays with the person.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check or sign: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 12 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attend training classes to maintain certification licensure, keep abreast of new developments in the field, or maintain existing knowledge.Attendance and learning only the technician can do. | 59% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Maintain vehicles and medical and communication equipment, and replenish first aid equipment and supplies.Checking the vehicle and equipment and restocking supplies by hand.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.1 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Administer first aid treatment or life support care to sick or injured persons in prehospital settings.Hands-on care at the scene.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Decontaminate ambulance interior following treatment of patient with infectious disease, and report case to proper authorities.Cleaning the interior by hand and filing the report to the health authority.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 80%, systems 20% | 20%Desk part half by now |
| Perform emergency diagnostic and treatment procedures, such as stomach suction, airway management, or heart monitoring, during ambulance ride.Airway, suction and monitoring by hand during the ride.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Drive mobile intensive care unit to specified location, following instructions from emergency medical dispatcher.Driving the ambulance to the scene as dispatched.Robots: in a structured facility, Waymo Driver; Zoox robotaxi (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Immobilize patient for placement on stretcher and ambulance transport, using backboard or other spinal immobilization device.Strapping the patient to the board and loading the stretcher by hand.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Observe, record, and report to physician the patient's condition or injury, the treatment provided, and reactions to drugs or treatment.Watching the patient, the run report in the system and the radio report to the physician. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 29 min | Systems 50%, conversation 30%, hands-on 20% | 50%Desk part half by now |
| Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.Examining the patient by hand and asking questions at the scene.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Hands-on 60%, in person 40% | Stays with people |
| Comfort and reassure patients.Face to face with the patient. | 2% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.Working with the team and with police and fire crews at the scene. | 2% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Communicate with dispatchers or treatment center personnel to provide information about situation, to arrange reception of survivors, or to receive instructions for further treatment.Radio and phone with the dispatcher and the receiving hospital. | 1% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | Conversation 100% | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Paramedics5% now, 5% by 2028
- Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians19% now, 48% by 2028
- Surgical Assistants0% now, 0% by 2028
- Registered Nurses37% now, 39% by 2028
- Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses16% now, 16% by 2028
- Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians31% now, 31% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Emergency Medical Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 2% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 2% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Emergency Medical Technicians come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Record and report the patient's condition (50% of the task's time now); and Decontaminate the ambulance and report (20% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Emergency Medical Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Attend training to keep certification; Maintain the vehicle and restock; and Give first aid and life support. Together such tasks are about 92% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Emergency Medical Technicians learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are the conversations; the hands-on craft; and judgment where errors are severe. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 98% of the working time stays with people, 2% becomes checking a model's work and 0% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Emergency Medical Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.016% went to this job's tasks, the 336th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 12 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Emergency Medical Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 65% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 18% of the working time, 18% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.36 of 3. One example: Waymo Driver; Zoox robotaxi for "drive the ambulance". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 12 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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The full personal report is $19, to print or save as a PDF: every task with when it comes within reach, which ones your description names, the parts of your description the task list does not cover, what stays with you, what becomes checking the machine and what to learn.