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The differences between first-aid attendants and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a first-aid attendant and a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant. Additionally, a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant has an average salary of $36,382, which is higher than the $27,639 average annual salary of a first-aid attendant.
The top three skills for a first-aid attendant include customer service, fire safety and BLS. The most important skills for a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| First-Aid Attendant | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $27,639 | $36,382 |
| Hourly rate | $13.29 | $17.49 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 164,508 | 350,499 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 38% | Associate Degree, 26% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
First-Aid Attendants are responsible for providing immediate medical assistance to employees suffering an injury or illness. Their duties include gathering patient medical information, disinfecting wounds, administering bandages, handling artificial respirators and oxygen administration, and providing medications to relieve pain. They are responsible for arranging transport logistics, maintaining personnel headcount, attending safety meetings, producing first aid reports, and ensuring accurate documentation. First Aid Attendants in health care facilities manage bed changes as well as assist physicians during an emergency.
A certified medical assistant (CMA) or certified nurse assistant (CNA) is a healthcare professional who performs clinical and administrative duties in clinics or medical facilities. Certified medical assistants provide excellent customer service to patients arriving and departing from the medical facility and administer injections or medications to their patients. In administrative duties, certified medical assistants are tasked to help clients submit insurance claims and encode medical records to the computer system. They also can work with specialized physicians such as ophthalmologists and podiatrists.
First-aid attendants and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| First-Aid Attendant | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Average salary | $27,639 | $36,382 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $35,000 | Between $27,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | - | Aya Healthcare |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a first-aid attendant and a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant in terms of educational background:
| First-Aid Attendant | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 38% | Associate Degree, 26% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between first-aid attendants' and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants' demographics:
| First-Aid Attendant | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 33.2% Female, 66.8% | Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 6.7% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |