paramedic
Pluralparamedics
- 1A trained responder who medically stabilizes victims of trauma or medical emergencies outside a hospital and prepares them for transport to a medical facility.
A paramedic stabilized the hiker's broken leg before the helicopter could reach the ridge.
During the marathon, paramedics treated several runners for heat exhaustion at the roadside.
Similarmedic
Note
A compound of para- and medic, with the prefix in its sense of "alongside": someone who works beside the medical profession, out where the emergency happens rather than inside the hospital. The word names what the person does, stabilizing patients at the roadside or the scene, and says nothing about rank or paperwork. That narrower, legal sense belongs to the American licensed title.
- 2A person licensed at the state or national level to perform medical interventions in an emergency setting before a patient reaches a hospital.
She finally earned her license and now works as a paramedic for the county service.
Only certified paramedics may administer those medications in the field.
Similarmedic
Note
In American usage the word names a credential as well as a job. A paramedic here holds a license from a state or national body, and the title marks what that person may legally do in the field. That is why it pairs so readily with licensed and certified. Outside a US context, the broader working sense is the safer reading.
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Origin
Formed from the prefix "para-" combined with "medic."