No professional qualification

Should well-trained paramedics have more rights?

The Federal Association of Rescue Services is currently advocating vocational training at university level for emergency paramedics.(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

Well-trained paramedics in Upper Austria currently lack a professional qualification. Even those who complete the difficult course to become an emergency paramedic, for example, remain - to put it bluntly - "trainees" without professional protection. This is what the new Red Cross President Gottfried Hirz says.

"I have a positive attitude towards the job description of an emergency paramedic, but the system must continue to be compatible with the voluntary nature of paramedics," says the new Red Cross President Gottfried Hirz in an interview with "Krone". This is because the interest group of paramedics, above all the Federal Association of Rescue Services, advocates a three-year vocational training course at university level for emergency paramedics. Currently, paramedics are "trainees" with no job protection and no possibility of switching to another healthcare field.