The MS paramedic logo in GTA IV.
Paramedics are mobile emergency personnel tasked in providing on-site treatment of injuries, as well as transport to the hospital. In the Grand Theft Auto series, paramedics, like the police and fire department, are a form of pedestrian that respond to multiple pedestrian killings, providing every game in the series with a certain degree of realism as well as comedic effect.
Behavior
2D Universe
Grand Theft Auto 1, Grand Theft Auto 2 & Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
In-game, paramedics usually appear after three or more pedestrians, either civilians or those of civil services, are killed by either the player or other NPCs. They arrive in groups of two in Ambulances (or the Medicar in Grand Theft Auto 2), and will attempt to revive the killed, with varying success; if the pedestrian is not mutilated by explosions or severe gunshot wounds, paramedics can revive the pedestrian.
.jpg){kind=link}
CJ in a paramedic outfit.
3D Universe
Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories & Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
In the 3D Universe games, paramedics will always be successful in reviving downed characters (except for the burned ones in any game excluding San Andreas, or the decapitated ones). Once successful, the previously deceased will now have full health and the paramedics will depart. Grand Theft Auto III has an interesting feature; if the player drives away from the scene of a pedestrian death, they will see an outline silhouette of a corpse. However, if the player stays in the vicinity, the paramedics will almost always be successful in reviving a pedestrian; the only time paramedics cannot revive pedestrians is if they are burned or decapitated/missing limbs.
HD Universe
Grand Theft Auto IV
In Grand Theft Auto IV, paramedics' actions are more realistic. The chance of reviving a fallen pedestrian now depends on the severity of their injury; for example, they will be unable to revive someone who was lit on fire, though they may easily revive someone who was beaten near-death. This is due to the then newly-implemented system of injury; pedestrians could either be entirely dead or severely injured depending on how their injuries happened. If successful in reviving the pedestrian, they will limp to the back of the ambulance and enter it, then be driven to hospital.
Paramedics have become known for their sense of humor; if successful in reviving a pedestrian, they may utter sentences such as "Oh, no insurance? Take an aspirin". If unable to revive someone, they will become frustrated and yell things such as "No, no! Don't you fucking die on me!".
For the first time in the series, the player can directly interact with paramedics. Niko can call 911 on his cell phone, and paramedics will arrive on the scene. If Niko is low on health, the paramedics will restore his health and then charge the player.
Grand Theft Auto V
Paramedics once again returned in Grand Theft Auto V. Instead of only the ambulance's passenger, both paramedics will now tend to the injured. Due to the absence of the injury system, the revival system has been removed; paramedics are never successful in reviving pedestrians, and will only comment about how they could not save a pedestrian, and file a death report; this may have been due to the limitations of then-current consoles of the time. Pedestrians may gather around the body and watch, while police may arrive if there are multiple casualties, securing the scene. In the case of many casualties, it is possible that multiple ambulances may arrive.
LSPD officers guarding a crime scene as paramedics try to revive and file reports of the deceased on Vinewood Boulevard.
Bugs
There is a bug with the paramedics in GTA IV. As soon as they arrive to revive the pedestrian, one will get out and start to revive him. When you wave the camera away from him, you will see that he disappeared and that the paramedic driving the Ambulance will start to drive very recklessly, running over pedestrians, killing them, ramming into buildings and cars, etc. This can get very annoying when doing a mission where the paramedics normally arrive after you kill someone, with the bug leading most likely to the player's death.
Design
In Grand Theft Auto III and Liberty City Stories, the paramedic uniform consists of green scrubs, a green cap (MEDIC lettering on the front), and clear medical gloves. The uniform does not resemble that of any American fire department, but is rather modeled after the uniform of the London Ambulance Service.
In Vice City and Vice City Stories, the paramedic uniform consists of a light blue shirt (star of life patches on both sleeves), navy blue pants, and white medical gloves.
In San Andreas, the paramedic uniform varies by jurisdiction; the Los Santos paramedic uniform consists of a white shirt with a gold badge (star of life patch on right sleeve), navy blue pants (unusable radio on utility belt), and white medical gloves. The San Fierro paramedic uniform consists of a light green shirt with gold badge (star of life patch on right sleeve), dark green pants (unusable radio on utility belt), and white medical gloves. The Las Venturas paramedic uniform consists of a light blue shirt with gold badge (star of life patch on right sleeve), navy blue pants (unusable radio on utility belt), and white medical gloves.
In Grand Theft Auto IV, the paramedic uniform consists of a navy blue jacket with white striping (unusable stethoscope around neck; star of life emblem on front) over a white shirt, navy blue pants (unusable medical tools), and light blue medical gloves. For the first time, there are multiple models of paramedics.
In Grand Theft Auto V, the paramedic uniform may consist of a dark blue button-up shirt with dark blue pants, or a dark blue scrub jacket and dark blue pants; both uniforms have 'PARAMEDIC' written on the back in red. The uniform may vary depending on which paramedic service they belong to (LSFD, Mount Zonah, CLSMC, or MRSA). Paramedics may carry unusable stethoscopes and walkie talkies. Like in IV there are multiple paramedics, each with their own unique lines of dialogue.
Upon arrival, most paramedics will utter dialog relevant to their job, primarily providing encouragement to the wounded; unusually, in GTA III, paramedics are also known to sing lines of songs from Flashback FM, Head Radio, K-Jah and Lips 106.
Paramedic Services
3D Universe
- Liberty City Health Department
- Vice City Health Department
- San Andreas Emergency Unit
HD Universe
- Fire Department of Liberty City/City of Liberty Paramedicine
- Los Santos Fire Department
- Mount Zonah Medical Center
- Central Los Santos Medical Center
- Pillbox Hill Medical Center
Gallery
Trivia
General
- When the paramedics arrive to revive dead pedestrians, they might run over several other pedestrians in the process with the ambulance. This is especially apparent in GTA San Andreas.
- When a paramedic revives an armed pedestrian, the pedestrian will lose their weapons when coming back to life, even if the player didn't pick them up.
3D Universe
- In all 3D Universe games, the revival animation resembles that of CPR, in particular chest compressions.
- In GTA Vice City, Paramedics will not fight unless the player or an NPC destroys their ambulance, or if the player pushes or drives it too far away from them. Usually one of them will fight back, and the player can simply throw an in-game punch at them and they will run away. Ironically, the Paramedics will revive a pedestrian they themselves killed, and then try to kill the pedestrian again.
- Again in Vice City, If you put the "Pedestrians get in your car cheat" they will get in your car, and if you pull them out they will enter your car again and drive away.
- In GTA III and GTA Vice City, no matter how many shots are fired or how many civilians may be killed on scene, paramedics will continue to revive pedestrians so long as they are not attacked. From San Andreas onward, paramedics flee in fear if the player fires shots, even if not directly at them.
- However, they will not flee in fear while performing CPR, only after they finish.
- In GTA Vice City, the paramedics that appear in the game are African-American; however, both lines of dialogue used by the paramedics is either that of a white American male, or a Cuban/Hispanic accent associated with Miami.
- In GTA San Andreas, some paramedics speak with a feminine or high-pitched voice. This is likely done for comedic purposes.
- In GTA San Andreas, paramedics will sometimes come out of their ambulance and chase after whoever rammed into them, just like any driver.
HD Universe
- If one were to call the Paramedics in a gunfight, they would not be very helpful, as they will run away like normal pedestrians. This is similar to real-life, as paramedics are not allowed on scene until police have cleared it.
- In GTA V, if the player annoys the Paramedics, they will attack. In fact, Paramedics will attack any NPCs that annoy them (such as ramming into their ambulance) and proceed to beat them to death; afterwards, they will go as far as to try to 'revive' said pedestrian before pronouncing them dead.
- A paramedic will occasionally remark that "this state must be cursed!", possibly a reference to NPCs instantly dying as opposed to GTA IV.
- In GTA V, there is a CPR animation that exists in-game; this would imply that in the beta, Paramedics could revive civilians, but was cut for unknown reasons. There is a script that re-activates this feature.