Advanced Trauma Interventions

1. Where AEMT trauma scope starts and stops

So let's start with the line. AEMT trauma scope is a real step up from EMT. It's genuinely narrower than Paramedic.

Intervention	AEMT	Paramedic
Peripheral IV / IO access	✓	✓
Isotonic crystalloid; non-medicated fluid maintenance	✓	✓
Parenteral analgesia for pain	✓	✓
Antiemetic (e.g., ondansetron)	✓	✓
Supraglottic airway	✓	✓
Waveform capnography — monitoring and interpretation	✓	✓
Splinting, tourniquets, wound packing, chest seals	✓	✓
Needle chest decompression	—	✓
Endotracheal intubation / cricothyrotomy	—	✓
Blood or blood product infusion	—	✓
Medicated IV infusions (vasopressors, drips)	—	✓
Gastric decompression (NG/OG)	—	✓

The 2019 National EMS Scope of Practice Model added four things at AEMT: vascular access and fluid, parenteral analgesia, waveform capnography, and the supraglottic airway. Everything you don't get — needle decompression, surgical and endotracheal airways, blood products, medicated infusions — is just as testable as what you do get. Real scope varies by state and medical direction. The exam tests the national model.

Two traps sit on top of this table, and they run in opposite directions. One is candidates picking a Paramedic skill because it "sounds more advanced" for the scenario. The other is candidates ruling out an AEMT skill because they think it's too advanced for them — most often analgesia. Section 2 fixes that second one first, because it's the more common error right now.