Paramedic

As a paramedic, you respond to emergency calls - car crashes, heart attacks, falls, serious injuries and sudden illnesses. You arrive quickly, assess what's wrong, and give treatment that can save or stabilise someone's life, from CPR and using a defibrillator to managing serious bleeding or broken bones.

The work is demanding and unpredictable. One moment you're helping someone conscious and calm, the next you're dealing with a life-threatening situation where you need to work fast and think clearly under pressure. You'll work with other emergency staff, hospitals, and with distressed patients and their families - so you need good communication skills as well as medical knowledge. It's not an easy job, but people who do it often say it's one of the most meaningful things they could do.