# I ran out of time while taking the NREMT-B exam. I was at #104. Does that mean I failed?



## jkdee (Sep 27, 2014)

T.T As the title suggested, I feel like I might have failed. Failing isn't that bad, but it just sucks that I don't think I can re-take the exam. I have reached my 2 year (grace period or the last day is technically Sep 30th 2014). I don't think I can wait another 14 days, because I don't have 14 days.

Does that mean I need to re-take the entire EMT-B course again?

And, the original question: Did I fail? Or, is there a small chance that I might have passed? Perhaps, I was at the borderline of 70%, and hopefully I ran out of time when I was marginally passing?
I just took the exam this Saturday morning at 8:00. I probably won't get my result until Monday.


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## Akulahawk (Sep 27, 2014)

I wonder why it took you 2 years to be able to take the exam in the first place. Usually it's a good idea to take the exam fairly soon after completing the class. The longer you go without reviewing the information, the harder it will be to pass the exam. Two years is a very long time. Take a good look at the NREMT's rules about taking the exam and see where you fit. It very well could be that you "time-out" at the end of the month... or you may still be OK. I think you should also try to contact the NREMT and also find out from them if you have to retake the entire EMT course again or if you would be okay by simply doing it an EMT refresher before you attempt the exam again. 

The NREMT has a set of rules they go by to determine whether or not you passed or failed. These rules determine what to do when you run out of time, run out of questions, do consistently well or consistently poorly, and if you've reached the minimum number of questions. 

The way Computer Adaptive Testing works is that you must reach a certain minimum number of questions. If you don't reach that when you run out of time, you fail. Once you reach that minimum number, the computer checks to see if you have definitely passed or failed. If the answer is "yes" then the computer stops and you're done. If the answer is "no" then it'll ask you more questions until you definitively pass or fail, you run out of questions (reach maximum) or reach the maximum amount of time. Then your exam will be scored according to the rules and in a few days, you'll find out your result.


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## jkdee (Sep 27, 2014)

Thank you for the response. I see. I now understand more of how the NREMT scoring system works when we either reach the max # of questions or reach the max time allowed. So, I still have a small chance of passing (and failing).

Okay, I'll contact NREMT.

I tried to take the test during those two years, but I wasn't able to get to the exam site, so had three "no shows".  Worst luck ever. Since then, I hadn't re-registered for the exam (bad choice) until just last week when I realized that my EMT application is expiring soon. I actually only had one free day to study for this exam. So, if I didn't pass, I totally understand why.


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## MrJones (Sep 28, 2014)

So I take it that you didn't really want to be an EMT, then....


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## jkdee (Sep 28, 2014)

The above post is unnecessary. Who gives you the right to judge and assume when you don't know the entire story?


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## TransportJockey (Sep 28, 2014)

jkdee said:


> The above post is unnecessary. Who gives you the right to judge and assume when you don't know the entire story?


Meh he's making an assumption. One that more often than not in these type of circumstances are correct. But then again I'm an ******* and fully acknowledge that.


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## MrJones (Sep 28, 2014)

jkdee said:


> The above post is unnecessary. Who gives you the right to judge and assume when you don't know the entire story?


I'm sorry that you took it that way, but I was neither judging nor assuming. I was merely expressing one possible hypothesis based on the available facts of this case and my experience in previous, similar cases. Feel free to disprove my hypothesis.


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## TheBuffOP (Sep 28, 2014)

jkdee said:


> T.T As the title suggested, I feel like I might have failed. Failing isn't that bad, but it just sucks that I don't think I can re-take the exam. I have reached my 2 year (grace period or the last day is technically Sep 30th 2014). I don't think I can wait another 14 days, because I don't have 14 days.
> 
> Does that mean I need to re-take the entire EMT-B course again?
> 
> ...


From my experience and other friends who passed it this year, we got stopped at the 70's mark. Some people go up to 100 and they still passed it, but since you ran out of time, maybe there is a chance you didn't passed it.


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## jkdee (Sep 29, 2014)

I see, thanks TheBuffOP. Yea, I have read and heard many cases, but haven't read one where they ran out of time. So, I'm curious. Akulahawk did give a plausible response.


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## J B (Sep 29, 2014)

So.....?


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## joshrunkle35 (Sep 29, 2014)

I sincerely don't mean this as any sort of personal attack, and it should not be construed as such: 

By your admission, you spent one day out of the last 730 days focusing on EMS. Have you been doing something else healthcare/rescue/fire/EMS/patient related during those other 729 days? 

From the aspect of the patient, do you feel that you can safely jump into patient care and still provide the same level of care as any other EMT-B provider? 

I don't say that as any sort of knock to you; I went straight from EMT to Paramedic without a day of experience under my belt, however, I had tons of supervised patient contact in paramedic school (literally hundreds, maybe even a thousand hours). Additionally, every day between EMT and Paramedic, I was still re-reading, re-listening and re-quizzing myself. 

There's no one single right way, and maybe you can hear something one time and remember it forever. Maybe you only want the cert for fun and have no intention of helping patients. I'm just wondering, though, if you do wish to care for patients, are you really all that you can be? Can you provide top-notch service and skills at this moment in time? (And if so, then yes, the test was probably a breeze and you probably passed easily)


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