Balancing verbal and nonverbal: Volunteer emergency medical technicians work production and communication

In this article, we explore communication and patient care experiences of volunteer basic Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT-B) through their work with other pre-hospital emergency care providers. We examine communication as a space for understanding volunteer EMTs and their sense of being part of the patient care process by working alongside our participants to understand emergency pre-hospital communication. The narratives from this research illustrate how EMT communication issues with other pre-hospital and hospital emergency providers impact prehospital patient care. EMTs reflected on an ideal of communication that is critical to all facets of pre-hospital emergency care. In our discussion, we consider the contribution of volunteers as part of prehospital emergency services and the impact of volunteer knowledge regarding the impact of communication and better emergency patient care.