Emergency Medical Technician

Summary

The EMT conducts patient assessment, assesses severity of illness/injury and identifies life threatening problems. Determines/prioritizes appropriate medical treatment/procedures and need or additional assistance. EMT perform physical examinations and obtains patient history, assesses status of patient's neurological system, cardiovascular system, circulatory system, skeletal system, orthopedic system, motor and sensory skills, and level of consciousness.

Duties

• Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Conducts patient assessments, assesses severity of illness/injury and identifies life threatening problems. Perform patient triage, take and records patient's vital signs as needed. Determines/prioritizes appropriate medical treatment/procedures and need for additional assistance. EMTs shall perform patient triage, take and records patient's vital signs as needed. Performs physical examinations and obtains patient history, assesses status of patient's neurological system, cardiovascular system, circulatory system, skeletal system, orthopedic system, motor and sensory skills, and level of consciousness. Administers basic life support care at emergency scene in accordance with established medical standards, which may include providing CPR, and/or drug treatments. Performs invasive and non-invasive procedures on patients with life threatening and non-life-threatening conditions. Operates or utilizes various emergency vehicles and emergency/medical equipment, tools and supplies which may include ambulance, extrication tools, blood pressure cuff, AED, glucose monitor, oxygen terminal, pulse oximetry monitor, medical supplies, radio communications equipment, and general office equipment. Provides treatment as prescribed in protocol. Makes modifications to the protocol, if necessary, within prescribed limits. When not responding to Emergency Response Team calls, the incumbent may serve in a technical support capacity to the Emergency Department. Selects the most efficient route to and from sites, taking into consideration traffic patterns, health facility locations, etc. EMTs operate emergency transport vehicle and uses telephone and radio communications equipment and systems. Adheres to traffic ordinances and regulations pertaining to operation of emergency vehicles. EMTs prepare appropriate patient and vehicle use documentation and reports to ensure medical requirements are met. Provides a thorough safety inspection and operator maintenance (e.g., monitoring fluid levels, replacing air filters and interior lights, checking tire pressure, etc.). Responsible for taking patients to and from medical areas. Assists in lifting and carrying patients into or out of transport vehicles and into treatment facility. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: EMT work rotating shifts compressed tours, including holidays, and are subject to occasional recall to maintain adequate coverage of the Emergency Department and ambulance service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Mandatory overtime may be required due to run times that may extend beyond normal scheduled work hours. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Emergency Medical Technician/PD99774-S, PD99774S, and PD99774S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized for qualified applicants Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Physical Requirements: The EMT work involves extended periods of heavy moving and lifting of patients in a variety of situations. Generally, the work requires recurring bending, lifting, stooping, stretching, and positioning of patients, frequently under adverse conditions or in confined areas. Paramedics may be required to spend prolonged periods in protective breathing apparatus and protective clothing during chemical, nuclear, biological, or hazardous materials incidents/exercis

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/13/2026. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. AND Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: EMTs shall have a well-developed working knowledge of physiological and topographic anatomy, right/left, surface, proximal/distal, superior/ inferior to accurately transmit location information about the body and its functions. kill and familiarity with emergency and patient transport vehicle characteristics to safely operate the vehicle under adverse weather and/or traffic conditions to provide emergency and patient transportation; Broad knowledge of the local road system and skill in the pre-selection and planning of the route to ensure the safe and expedient transport of patients to the proper health care facility. Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond .The total percentage of specialized experience and education when added together must equal 100 percent to qualify an applicant for GS 6, i.e.9 credit hours and 6 months of specialized experience are equivalent to 1 year. Drivers License Requirement: Must possess a valid, unrestricted driver's license to operate government owned/leased vehicles. Certifications/Selective Placement Factor: Must have Basic Life Support Provider (BLS) and EMT state license/certification. English Language Proficiency For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Required Documents" below for details. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13032440. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 10/13/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to.Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit.