# 2 days left until NREMT, seeking advice



## SashaCherie (Jul 31, 2016)

Any last minute advice would be greatly appreciated. I've been studying a lot, but my nerves are getting to me. With the practice exams I've been taking, they ask a lot about radioactive substances. Is this something I should know very well?


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## NomadicMedic (Jul 31, 2016)

You will be given random questions until you're judged baseline competent in the areas covered by the standard curriculum. 

https://www.nremt.org/nremt/about/CBT_FAQs.asp#candidates

If you're passing the practice exams, take a day off and relax. Nothing you can do now will be of any real value. You either know it, or you don't.


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## StCEMT (Jul 31, 2016)

I don't know hardly anything about radioactive substances except they are bad and if I know they are in an area, I won't be there. Brush up on a few things you know need some touching up to have your weak areas still fresh. Other than that, DE is right. At this point, you know it or you don't. My advice? Pour a nice glass of whiskey, turn on some Archer, and take some time off before the test.


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## BASICallyEMT (Jul 31, 2016)

Know your range of vital signs. Helps u determine how stable the pt is in scenerio


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

Can I ask what practice tests you are using?


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## SashaCherie (Aug 1, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Can I ask what practice tests you are using?


I am using emtprep.com


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

Ah I am as well. But for Advanced. Look into Jb learning I have heard it's good as well. If your test is close to today's date dont waste the money unless you dont pass. Know your vitals and how to tell different diseases apart. Seems to be a lot of focus on Nremt tests.


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## SashaCherie (Aug 1, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Ah I am as well. But for Advanced. Look into Jb learning I have heard it's good as well. If your test is close to today's date dont waste the money unless you dont pass. Know your vitals and how to tell different diseases apart. Seems to be a lot of focus on Nremt tests.


Yep. That's been my main focus: assessments (steps in order, to distinguish what I would need to do next), signs/symptoms of different medical issues, vitals, and anatomy. 

Hopefully I do well and pass tomorrow. I can't wait to get this outta the way.


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

Good job taking it on a weekday. I took mine on a weekend and waiting for results was pure torture. It will ask you questions like your child has a barking cough and these other symtoms that could be other respitory problems. But it wants you to be like " I know this is Croup and not whooping cough or epiglotitis because it says "Barking cough" and thats a key symtom of Croup. Stuff like that.


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

Btw anatomy wont be to huge for basic at least. So yes, know the basic structures but spend more time with the other stuff. And dont cram tonight it will make you lose some long term memory stuff for a few short term items. Go to bed early and eat a good breakfast. Go in confident and dont stress over any one question. Pick your first answer and move on.


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## SashaCherie (Aug 1, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Good job taking it on a weekday. I took mine on a weekend and waiting for results was pure torture. It will ask you questions like your child has a barking cough and these other symtoms that could be other respitory problems. But it wants you to be like " I know this is Croup and not whooping cough or epiglotitis because it says "Barking cough" and thats a key symtom of Croup. Stuff like that.


Thank you! That's been what I have been studying too. I will run through the respiratory s/s again right now. Lol


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## SashaCherie (Aug 1, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Btw anatomy wont be to huge for basic at least. So yes, know the basic structures but spend more time with the other stuff. And dont cram tonight it will make you lose some long term memory stuff for a few short term items. Go to bed early and eat a good breakfast. Go in confident and dont stress over any one question. Pick your first answer and move on.


Ok, thank you. My biggest struggle is going to be trying to relax.


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

A good thing to remember is realize its not the end of the world if you dont pass. You have many more attempts and you will be more familiar with the types of questions each time. I have faith in Ya' haha. Im having to remember all this myself ^ as I have to retake my AEMT test in a couple weeks. We will get through it!


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## SashaCherie (Aug 1, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> A good thing to remember is realize its not the end of the world if you dont pass. You have many more attempts and you will be more familiar with the types of questions each time. I have faith in Ya' haha. Im having to remember all this myself ^ as I have to retake my AEMT test in a couple weeks. We will get through it!


Yeah, that's true. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. Best of luck to the both of us though! Lol. I just hope to pass the first time around because I go back to school for Fall semester on the 15th and I have a FULL plate. Lol


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

Thats funny Im in your same shoes I should get 1 more chance before fall semester and then Im going to be in trouble lol


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

If you want to test yourself to see where youre at this is free and kind of fun Smartmedic.com.


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## SashaCherie (Aug 1, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Thats funny Im in your same shoes I should get 1 more chance before fall semester and then Im going to be in trouble lol


Hahaha! The pressure is on huh?! Next semester, I'll be taking 5 classes, teaching Biology, assisting the EMT instructor (if I pass), doing ride alongs with my local law enforcement, and I have 3 kids. Lol.


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## SashaCherie (Aug 1, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> If you want to test yourself to see where youre at this is free and kind of fun Smartmedic.com.


Ok perfect!


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

You have quite the full plate im just full time student and full time bartender haha. Still quite a bit going on though!


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## Colt45 (Aug 1, 2016)

How many hours do you have on emtprep?


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## SashaCherie (Aug 1, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> How many hours do you have on emtprep?


I have roughly 25 hours


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## SashaCherie (Aug 2, 2016)

Pretty sure I failed.


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## Colt45 (Aug 3, 2016)

When did it stop you on the test and do you remember the last question (reworded of course so its not copying). The test is meant to feel hard to everyone that takes it so dont doubt yourself just yet. Keep us updated.


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## NomadicMedic (Aug 3, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> When did it stop you on the test and do you remember the last question (reworded of course so its not copying). The test is meant to feel hard to everyone that takes it so dont doubt yourself just yet. Keep us updated.



The number of questions or the last question are not pass/fail indicators. The only way to know is by looking at the NREMT website. (Where the answers are now posted).


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## Colt45 (Aug 3, 2016)

Well i  know with basic if you were cut off early and you know you got the last question right, you probably passed. Its a struggle with my aemt though, cause its 135 no matter what and i dont even think its adaptive. You get what you get and if you cant get the 70 percent in each section you fail. AEMT is hard haha.


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## TransportJockey (Aug 3, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Well i  know with basic if you were cut off early and you know you got the last question right, you probably passed. Its a struggle with my aemt though, cause its 135 no matter what and i dont even think its adaptive. You get what you get and if you cant get the 70 percent in each section you fail. AEMT is hard haha.


That's a myth with no bearing in how the adaptive test works


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## Colt45 (Aug 3, 2016)

Eh it seems to be a  pretty consistent myth then. Either way  I hope she passed.


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## NomadicMedic (Aug 3, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Eh it seems to be a  pretty consistent myth then. Either way  I hope she passed.



Absolutely no truth to it.


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## ViolynEMT (Aug 3, 2016)

She should know by now. Now I'm in suspense. lol


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## Colt45 (Aug 3, 2016)

I dont think anyone knows the "truth to it" even you big dog. My opinion of the test is just as good as yours.


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## ViolynEMT (Aug 3, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> I dont think anyone knows the "truth to it" even you big dog. My opinion of the test is just as good as yours.





The truth is that there is no truth. People pass at 70 or 120 questions. They also fail at 70 or 120 questions. That is a fact.
And the test is definitely adaptive. Just sayin'.


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## ViolynEMT (Aug 3, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Haha my results say near pass so I assure you that there is such a thing. Would you like a picture or a link to the section that says what I am claiming it does? I have worked on an ambulance for a long time so just because he is a medic has no bearing to me stating factual comments that I can prove.




What I'm saying is that a near pass is still a fail. Make sense?


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## Colt45 (Aug 3, 2016)

Yes,the whole point of near passing from what I read was to show that you were "Slightly above passing" or "Slightly below". It does not indicate which one obviously if you failed and all say near passing you were on the below side,  or it would tell you that you passed, not near. The whole point of this is to state that theoretically  I could have been above in multiple catergories but failed in 1, which would give me a failing result.


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## Akulahawk (Aug 3, 2016)

Folks, this thread had to be cleaned up a bit. Keep it civil.


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## Akulahawk (Aug 3, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Yes,the whole point of near passing from what I read was to show that you were "Slightly above passing" or "Slightly below". It does not indicate which one obviously if you failed and all say near passing you were on the below side,  or it would tell you that you passed, not near. The whole point of this is to state that theoretically  I could have been above in multiple catergories but failed in 1, which would give me a failing result.


A "Near Pass" isn't "slightly above." It's still a fail but they have that category there to let you know you were close to passing. Yes, theoretically you _could_ have passed all but one section where you might have received a "near pass" which still is a fail. In reality it doesn't happen unless you max out the questions or run out of time. That would result in a fail.  If you were above passing standard, even if just a very tiny bit, it's still a pass. That's NOT equivalent to a "near pass" by any stretch of the imagination.

There are quite a few people here that actually understand how adaptive CBT systems work. The NREMT exams and the NCLEX exams are examples of this kind of testing.

In these systems, there are exactly 3 possible results for each category tested.

Above Passing Standard (Pass)
Near Passing Standard (Keep asking questions)
Below Passing Standard (Fail)
There are many myths about these systems. One of them has to do with the number of questions you had and whether or not  you got the last question correct when the computer shuts off. The _only_ time you can make any sort of guess about pass/fail and number of questions is if the system shuts off right at the minimum and even then you either were above passing standard in all areas _or_ you were well below, with pass or fail as the result. If you go even ONE question beyond the minimum, the system could NOT determine clearly whether or not you passed or failed, so it had to ask you another question. It will continue to do so until you clearly meet a rule that says "Pass" or "Fail." If you're consistently at Near Pass, that's often within the built-in wiggle room so it'll continue asking questions until you meet a pass/fail rule. If you max out questions or time and one of those sections are still at "near pass" then you fail. It's that simple.

If you failed the exam and you weren't maxed out, then there clearly was a section that you failed and did poorly enough that the system had to stop the exam because you met a fail rule. When that happens, expect to see at least ONE "Below Passing Standard" section, regardless of what the other sections tested at.


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## Colt45 (Aug 3, 2016)

Awesome info. Not saying youre wrong very informational, but here is a direct quote from NREMT backing up what I am saying.

Candidates who are “near” the standard can be slightly above or slightly below the standard and should certainly study these areas.  Being “near” does not indicate pass or fail but it can be interpreted as an area to study.


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## Akulahawk (Aug 3, 2016)

Colt45 said:


> Awesome info. Not saying youre wrong very informational, but here is a direct quote from NREMT backing up what I am saying.
> 
> Candidates who are “near” the standard can be slightly above or slightly below the standard and should certainly study these areas.  Being “near” does not indicate pass or fail but it can be interpreted as an area to study.


I edited one place that should clarify things a little bit. The CBT systems are designed to determine pass/fail with a 95% confidence interval. If you're within that 5%, that's the area where it'll keep asking you questions and it'll do so until you reach any rule that stops the exam. That's the "Near Pass" and the system cannot be certain that you know the material well enough to determine pass/fail. 

From the NREMT website: 





> Candidates who are “above” the standard can be somewhat confident they have sufficient knowledge in that content area, allowing them to pass the exam. However, failure to review the material in that content area can result in failing the exam again. Candidates who are “near” the standard can be slightly above or slightly below the standard and should certainly study these areas.  Being “near” does not indicate pass or fail but it can be interpreted as an area to study. Candidates who are “below” the standard need to enhance their study in this area...Criterion-based examinations like the National Registry have only one score that counts: did the candidate meet the criteria (pass) or did the candidate not meet the criteria (fail).



This video from the NCSBN (folks that put on the NCLEX) should describe things a little more visually... the NREMT uses a very similar system so this should really be instructive. Near passing occurs when your ability estimate is both above and below passing standard so the computer can't determine pass/fail. 

https://media.ncsbn.org/vod/Webinar/MinimumItemFail.mp4


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## SashaCherie (Aug 4, 2016)

I'm sorry for the late reply! But I PASSED GUYS! I PASSED!


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## SashaCherie (Aug 4, 2016)

I was so sure that I had failed! It took me all the way through 120 HARD questions... some of them didn't even seem like they were within my scope of practice.  But I passed! I woke up this morning and read the results... I literally jumped outta my bed and ran through the house screaming. Haha. Best part was, my kids were so proud of me. We celebrated with root beer floats. Lol


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## Colt45 (Aug 4, 2016)

Congrats I knew you would! I wish you sucess with all future plans, whether they include EMS or not


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## Akulahawk (Aug 4, 2016)

First of all, CONGRATS!!!!

Second thing that I forgot to mention... CAT systems do NOT grade you like standard testing does. The concept of "A", "B", "C", and so on doesn't exist in these systems. What they want to know is how difficult a question is relative to the passing standard. Whether or not you get a given question correct or not is actually immaterial. Your answer only tells the computer to give you an "easier" or "more difficult" question than the one just submitted. Regardless of pass or fail, these systems can very rapidly reach a point where you'll be answering 50% of the questions correctly and 50% not correctly with the result of determining your knowledge/proficiency level. In short, you will usually feel like you have horribly failed the exam because you felt like you were guessing on about half of the questions. That's where your limit is. 

If you feel like you knew all the answers, either the exam was asking you questions that were below passing standard because you couldn't answer questions above passing standard, OR your capability/base knowledge is so good and complete that you can answer questions well in excess of the hardest/most difficult questions on the exam. Most people aren't _that _knowledgeable. 

When I finished the NCLEX, I felt like I wanted to hurl because the exam really was the most difficult exam I'd taken to date precisely because it's a CAT type exam. It found my limits and it might be interesting (from an academic standpoint) to see just how well I actually did. Sure, I finished at 75 questions (minimum) and passed, but the only thing I can glean from that is that my ability estimates were consistently above passing standard so I met a "pass" rule at the minimum. I just don't know how far above passing standard I really was.


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## floridamed224 (Aug 6, 2016)

Congrats to the OP for passing.  I soon will be taking the NREMT exam for Paramedic.  I have been using medictests.com to help me prepare.  But I noticed on their tests there are very few questions about drugs and none (that I have seen yet) on drug calculations.  I am guessing drugs and drug calculations are on the registry exam? Right?  I have been studying my notes from class and any questions I get wrong on the practice tests I study that material.  Any other suggestions of items I need to make sure I know very well?  Thank you.


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## NomadicMedic (Aug 6, 2016)

Might be good idea to reread some of the posts on this thread.

There is not a list of one or two things that you need to have down cold to pass the National Registry adaptive exam.   You need to have a wide baseline knowledge of all of the information that's taught in the standard curriculum.  You may get 10 or 15 cardiac questions or you may get two. You may get 10 or 15 questions about CHF, you may get one.  There may be two or three drug calculations or there may be none. You may get five questions about burns or there may be none.  Everyone's test is different.

That's why we all stress that you need to utillize test prep to help build your critical thinking skills to determine the correct answer for the question. It's not a simple "memorize the answer and stick it in the box" kind of test.


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## AudiGirl (Aug 6, 2016)

SashaCherie said:


> I was so sure that I had failed! It took me all the way through 120 HARD questions... some of them didn't even seem like they were within my scope of practice.  But I passed! I woke up this morning and read the results... I literally jumped outta my bed and ran through the house screaming. Haha. Best part was, my kids were so proud of me. We celebrated with root beer floats. Lol


Aww I'm happy for you!  Congratulations!


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## JORDAN89 (Aug 6, 2016)

you will do great ... just do the best you can do and move on... good luck


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