Published Paper Details:

ABSTRACT Paramedic professionals play a vital role in rural West Bengal's healthcare system, often becoming the first and only point of care in underserved communities. This study explores the challenges they face--not just through the lens of infrastructure and training gaps, but by situating their work within broader ecological, cultural, and indigenous frameworks. Rural paramedics operate in fragile environments shaped by poor sanitation, climate-sensitive diseases, and water insecurity, all of which complicate healthcare delivery. Their work is further affected by global influences such as workforce migration, digital divides, and the tension between local realities and homogeneous global training protocols. Beyond these structural concerns, the study highlights how paramedics engage with indigenous health knowledge, community beliefs, and traditional caregiving practices--creating unique models of resilience and care deeply rooted in local ecology and rural cosmologies. It also evaluates the adoption of sustainable technologies like solar power and eco-friendly biomedical waste management in these contexts. Using a mixed-method approach that combines policy analysis with oral narratives and field-based insights, the paper argues for a culturally grounded and environmentally responsive public health framework. It calls for policies that not only build skills and resources but also recognize the wisdom and lived experiences of rural paramedics as essential to sustainable healthcare in ecologically vulnerable regions.