Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) provide out-of-hospital emergency medical care and transportation for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical services (EMS) system, according to the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

EMTs have the basic knowledge and skills necessary to stabilize and safely transport patients, ranging from non-emergency and routine medical transports to life-threatening emergencies.

EMTs function as part of a comprehensive EMS response system under medical oversight. They perform interventions with the basic equipment typically found on an ambulance and act as a critical link between the scene of an emergency and the health care system.