Paramedics - more than any other health profession - seldom work alone.  Usually we have a partner. 

There are lot's of different possible crew configurations, and most commonly one paramedic has a higher level of training than the other. 

On this web site, I always going to refer to the person with the higher level of training as the 'attendant'.  This is the person who rides in the passengers seat on the way to the call In land ambulances), and rides in the back with the patient en route to the hospital. 

I'll refer to the person with the lower level of training, the one who drives to and from the call, as the 'second'.

Be aware that it is common for paramedics to switch roles, especially on lower acuity calls.

They do this so that the paramedic with the lower level of training gets a chance to attend every so often, and the higher level paramedic gets a break from attending and doing all the paperwork, and acts as the second. 

In some systems the paramedic partners have equal levels of training, and they work out some sort of a system to make sure they get equal time as attendant and second. 

Where I worked, the most common system was to do 'call for call', meaning we switched roles each call.  Others like to do '6 fo 6' (the first 6 hours of a shift in one role, and the last half of the shift in the other), while others will do 'shift for shift'. 

Take your pick.  There's no right or wrong way, it's just what you and your partner prefer.  The one 'rule' you need to abide by is that on a high acuity call, it's always the higher trained paramedic who attends.

Attendant and second each have pre-assigned roles on a call, and this helps us to do what we need to do in record time. 

In fact, one of the most frequent comments you'll get from medical professionals who do a ride-along is: 'I can't believe how fast you guys work'. 

It's not uncommon for us to have performed a medical interview and have the patient on an ECG monitor with an IV line in place and administering drugs in under ten minutes from meeting the patient. 

There aren't a lot of other medical professionals who do this regularly.

The reason we can do it at all is that we have carefully choreographed roles for the attendant and the second.  Knowing these roles instinctively is an important part of learning how to work in a paramedic team.

Basically, the ‘attendant’ is responsible for interviewing the patient, reviewing lab findings, consulting with medical command, making treatment decisions and performing the more advanced medical interventions.  In some ways, they can be thought of as the ‘brains’.

The ‘second’ is responsible for what we call ‘equipping’ the patient when the team first arrives.  This means immobilizing the c-spine first (if necessary), putting on oxygen, the cardiac monitor, oxygen saturation and (possibly) an end-tidal carbon dioxide monitor, taking vital signs, establishing an IV and performing a quick head-to-toe examination.