AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians?

Task-level automation exposure for Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians: 11 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

16% weighted task index

11 of 11 tasks scored

Median Salary

$35,450 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

12,630 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-1.3% employment change

1,400 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 42 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$22,940 – $73,730

Highest medians

Connecticut $73,730

Oregon $40,900

Massachusetts $39,480

Maryland $38,410

North Dakota $37,690

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $22,940

Alabama $24,420

Mississippi $25,170

West Virginia $26,240

Louisiana $27,410

State figures come from the 53-3011 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 16%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 46%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 44%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 0%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 60/100 High

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

11 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 8%

1 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 9%

1 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 83%

9 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Emerging & rewritten tasks

Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.

New 08/2026 · Incumbent

Evaluate patient condition by checking vital signs before and after transport.

Constituent Tasks

#8608 · Core · 5% automatable

Place patients on stretchers, and load stretchers into ambulances, usually with assistance from other attendants.

physical manipulation — First aid and rescue are hands-on emergency actions

Provide first aid or rescue assistance in emergencies.

#8611 · Core · 10% automatable

Replace supplies and disposable items on ambulances.

physical manipulation — Hands-on stocking of medical supplies

Stock medical or patient care supplies.

#8609 · Core · 5% automatable

Accompany and assist emergency medical technicians on calls.

physical manipulation — First aid and rescue are hands-on emergency actions

Provide first aid or rescue assistance in emergencies.

#8610 · Core · 70% automatable

Earn and maintain appropriate certifications.

information retrieval — AI supports study; certification requires human

Maintain professional knowledge or certifications.

#8606 · Core · 10% automatable

Drive ambulances or assist ambulance drivers in transporting sick, injured, or convalescent persons.

situated mobility — Driving passenger vehicles needs real-world control

Drive passenger vehicles.

#8613 · Core · 5% automatable

Administer first aid, such as bandaging, splinting, or administering oxygen.

physical manipulation — First aid and rescue are hands-on emergency actions

Provide first aid or rescue assistance in emergencies.

#8607 · Core · 5% automatable

Remove and replace soiled linens or equipment to maintain sanitary conditions.

physical manipulation — Hands-on washing of vehicle surfaces and parts

Clean vehicles or vehicle components.

#8612 · Core · 55% automatable

Report facts concerning accidents or emergencies to hospital personnel or law enforcement officials.

interpersonal — Emergency notification needs live accountable delivery

Notify others of emergencies, problems, or hazards.

#21029 · Core · 5% automatable

Clean and wash rigs, ambulances, or equipment.

physical manipulation — Hands-on washing of vehicle surfaces and parts

Clean vehicles or vehicle components.

#21028 · Core · 8% automatable

Perform minor maintenance on emergency medical services vehicles, such as ambulances.

physical manipulation — Physical vehicle maintenance work

Maintain vehicles in good working condition.

#8614 · Core · 3% automatable

Restrain or shackle violent patients.

physical manipulation — Physically holding patients for positioning

Hold patients to ensure proper positioning or safety.

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Community Sentiment

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Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?

Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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