General Information

The Diploma in Ambulance Technology is a one-year paramedical training program designed to impart foundational knowledge in pre-hospital emergency care. The curriculum covers emergency medical systems, ambulance maintenance, basic life support, patient lifting techniques, and infection control. Through practical training and field experience, students learn the operational procedures necessary to assist medical teams and transport patients safely during medical emergencies.

1. Course Duration: 1 Year
2. Minimum Qualification: 10+2 passed in Science stream
3. Course Category: PARAMEDICAL
4. Total Marks: 600 (Theory 600, 6 subjects)

Course Objectives

• Teach the fundamentals of emergency medical services and pre-hospital healthcare protocols.
• Train students in operating, inspecting, and maintaining standard medical equipment inside an ambulance.
• Develop competencies in safe patient handling, extrication, and transport during medical emergencies.
• Provide practical instruction on first aid, basic life support, and standard infection control measures.

Learning Outcomes

• Operate and maintain essential emergency medical devices fitted in standard ambulances.
• Execute proper techniques for safe lifting, immobilizing, and transporting critical patients.
• Administer initial first aid and basic life support under clinical guidelines.
• Apply safety protocols and infection control measures during emergency patient transit.
• Assist emergency healthcare personnel effectively during pre-hospital transit and field operations.

Pass & Division Criteria

The maximum marks and minimum pass marks of Theory and Practical of each subject are given in the Mark Distribution table below. To pass, a candidate must score the minimum pass marks separately in both Theory and Practical of every subject.

The division is decided on the aggregate percentage of marks obtained, as follows —

Mark Distribution

Total marks of the course : 600

Detailed Syllabus

1. Introduction to Emergency Medical Services — History, components, objectives, and role of emergency medical services in the modern healthcare system and community disaster management protocols.
2. EMS Systems and Hospital Integration — Integration of ambulance services with public health networks, hospital emergency rooms, trauma centers, and community health organizations during critical situations.
3. Roles and Responsibilities of EMTs — Professional duties, ethical conduct, personal safety, legal responsibilities, standard of care, and professional scope of practice for ambulance technicians.
4. Medicolegal Issues in Emergency Care — Consent, refusal of treatment, confidentiality, negligence, advance directives, crime scene management, and legal documentation protocols in emergency pre-hospital situations.
5. EMS Communication Systems and Protocols — Radio communication, call dispatching, telecommunication codes, inter-agency coordination, and structured handover communication between control rooms and emergency responders.
6. Disaster Preparedness and Mass Casualty Incidents — Principles of mass casualty management, incident command systems, disaster mitigation, triage categories, color tagging, and inter-agency emergency response coordination.
7. Infection Control and Workplace Safety — Standard precautions, blood-borne pathogens, personal protective equipment usage, hazardous exposure management, and safety protocols for emergency ambulance personnel.
8. Quality Assurance and Documentation in EMS — Maintaining patient care reports, legal medical documentation, continuous quality improvement processes, clinical audit procedures, and critical incident reporting systems.

1. Classification and Standards of Ambulances — Different types of ambulances including transport, basic life support, advanced life support, and special rescue vehicle specifications and mandatory equipment layouts.
2. Vehicle Mechanics and Daily Inspection — Routine mechanical checks, tire maintenance, fluid levels, electrical battery systems, warning sirens, emergency lights, and breakdown management for emergency vehicles.
3. Airway and Oxygen Delivery Equipment — Inspection, operation, cylinder safety, regulators, flowmeters, suction devices, bag-valve-mask units, and maintenance of portable transport ventilators.
4. Diagnostic and Patient Monitoring Devices — Calibration, operation, battery care, and sanitization of vital signs monitors, pulse oximeters, glucometers, digital thermometers, and blood pressure instruments.
5. Defibrillators and Resuscitation Hardware — Daily checking, operational verification, battery charging, self-testing routines, lead care, and pad storage for automated external defibrillators and monitors.
6. Immobilization and Splinting Hardware — Upkeep, inspection, sanitization, and readiness of cervical collars, long spine boards, scoop stretchers, traction splints, and vacuum splints.
7. Ambulance Sanitation and Bio-Cleaning — Disinfection protocols, vehicle fumigation techniques, terminal cleaning procedures, blood spill management, and biomedical waste disposal inside the ambulance unit.
8. Inventory Management and Log Keeping — Stock tracking, shelf-life monitoring, emergency medication replacement, checklist completion, equipment service logging, and procurement protocols for consumable supplies.

1. Principles of Ergonomics and Lifting — Safe lifting mechanics, posture awareness, preventing personal injury, load assessment, communication among team members, and ergonomic manual handling techniques.
2. Emergency and Non-Emergency Moves — Indications and techniques for rapid clothes drag, blanket drag, extremity carry, direct ground lift, and controlled emergency patient evacuations.
3. Stretcher Operations and Transfer Devices — Operation, maneuvering, loading, and unloading of wheeled ambulance stretchers, folding stretchers, stair chairs, transfer boards, and canvas carries.
4. Spinal Motion Restriction and Packaging — Application of cervical collars, log-roll techniques, head immobilizer stabilization, strap placement, and packaging pediatric and adult trauma patients securely.
5. Vehicle Extrication and Rescue Basics — Assessing scene safety, vehicle stabilization, rapid extrication techniques, removing trapped victims from crashed motor vehicles, and cervical spine control.
6. Patient Positioning for Transit — Proper positioning for patients experiencing respiratory distress, hypovolemic shock, head trauma, chest pain, abdominal pain, neurological deficit, and pregnancy.
7. En-Route Monitoring and Reassessment — Continual vital signs assessment, monitoring unstable patients, recognizing clinical deterioration during transport, and managing en-route medical changes safely.
8. Handover and Hospital Reception — Standardized handover protocols, SBAR communication technique, transferring medical records and personal belongings, and executing bed-to-bed patient transfer safely.

1. Principles of First Aid Assessment — Primary and secondary survey concepts, scene size-up, hazard assessment, initial systematic evaluation, and rapid identification of life-threatening emergency conditions.
2. Basic Life Support and Adult CPR — High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation guidelines, compression-to-ventilation ratios, chest compressions, rescue breathing, and resuscitation techniques for adult cardiac arrest.
3. Pediatric and Infant Resuscitation — Anatomical considerations, recognition of respiratory arrest, chest compression methods, rescue ventilation techniques, and CPR protocols for infants and children.
4. Automated External Defibrillator Operation — Indications, pad placement, rhythm analysis, safety clearances, shock delivery protocols, and special considerations when using automated external defibrillators.
5. Foreign Body Airway Obstruction — Identification of mild and severe airway obstruction, back blows, abdominal thrusts, chest thrusts, and managing unconscious choking pediatric and adult victims.
6. Bleeding Control and Shock Management — Direct pressure application, pressure bandages, hemostatic dressings, tourniquet use, recognizing hypovolemic shock, and initiating emergency shock management protocols.
7. Management of Burns and Thermal Injuries — Assessing burn depth and surface area, cooling techniques, sterile dressing, chemical burns, electrical injuries, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and hypothermia first aid.
8. Splinting Fractures and Soft Tissue Care — Recognition and immobilization of bone fractures, joint dislocations, sprains, open wound dressing, bandaging methods, and management of impaled objects.
9. Medical Emergencies First Aid — First aid response for acute myocardial infarction, stroke recognition, seizures, diabetic hypoglycemia, severe asthma, hyperventilation, anaphylaxis, and acute poisoning.

1. Introduction to Pre-Hospital Safety Principles — Learn the foundational concepts of provider, patient, and bystander safety, legal obligations, and situational awareness in pre-hospital emergency environments.
2. Ambulance Scene Safety and Hazard Assessment — Study the identification of environmental, chemical, electrical, and structural hazards, scene size-up methods, and establishing secure working perimeters during emergencies.
3. Vehicle Operational Safety and Road Protocols — Understand defensive driving, vehicle check procedures, emergency lighting usage, collision prevention strategies, and safe positioning of the ambulance at accident scenes.
4. Personal Protective Equipment Utilization — Cover the types, selection, proper donning, doffing, and disposal of gloves, masks, face shields, gowns, and specialized protective suits.
5. Principles of Infection Control in Ambulances — Explore transmission modes of pathogens, the chain of infection, standard universal precautions, and hospital-acquired infection risks relevant to ambulance transport.
6. Hand Hygiene and Aseptic Techniques — Learn proper medical handwashing methods, alcohol hand-rub application protocols, and maintaining field asepsis during invasive emergency interventions and procedures.
7. Decontamination and Sterilization of Ambulance Equipment — Study the protocols for cleaning, chemical disinfection, and autoclaving of patient care devices, splints, stretchers, monitors, and reusable diagnostic tools.
8. Ambulance Compartment Sanitation and Fumigation — Understand routine cleaning schedules, terminal disinfection procedures, air handling, and fumigation practices inside the patient cabin after transporting infectious patients.
9. Biomedical Waste Management Protocols — Learn segregation, color-coded collection bags, handling, transport, and statutory disposal regulations for clinical waste, sharps, and contaminated linens per national guidelines.
10. Management of Needle-Stick Injuries and Exposures — Understand immediate first-aid steps, reporting mechanisms, risk assessment, baseline testing, and post-exposure prophylaxis regimens for blood-borne pathogen exposures.

1. Orientation to Emergency Medical Services Infrastructure — Understand the hierarchy, dispatch communications, fleet coordination, operating guidelines, and administrative workflows within public and private emergency ambulance networks.
2. Pre-Shift Ambulance Inspection and Equipment Audits — Observe and perform inventory checks, oxygen cylinder inspections, communication tool verification, and readiness assessment of trauma bags and stretchers.
3. Dispatch Call Handling and Response Routing — Learn call intake analysis, prioritizing emergency response levels, GPS navigation utilization, and maintaining radio etiquette with emergency medical dispatchers.
4. On-Scene Rapid Assessment and Triage — Observe scene size-up, primary survey execution, vital sign acquisition, and triage categorization during single-victim and multi-casualty emergency responses.
5. Field Management of Trauma and Medical Emergencies — Shadow senior paramedics during field stabilization, basic airway management, spinal immobilization, bleeding control, and automated external defibrillator application.
6. Patient Handling, Lifting, and Transfer Protocols — Practice ergonomically safe lifting methods, scoop stretcher application, stair chair maneuvering, and securing critical patients inside the moving ambulance.
7. In-Transit Patient Monitoring and En-Route Care — Learn continuous vital sign tracking, documentation of patient condition changes, administering oxygen therapy, and managing dynamic medical events during transit.
8. Hospital Handover and Inter-Facility Transfer Coordination — Master structured handover communication protocols like SBAR, delivering accurate verbal reports to emergency room staff, and transferring care documentation seamlessly.
9. Post-Call Ambulance Turnaround and Restocking — Execute post-trip decontamination, biomedical waste clearing, restocking of consumed medications and single-use supplies, and completing run reports promptly.
10. Field Documentation, Case Logging, and Incident Reporting — Maintain accurate field training logbooks, complete pre-hospital patient care records, and record clinical anomalies or equipment malfunctions encountered on duty.