EMT Certification Questions!

[Em K]

Hello! I am an undergrad student who took the EMT course last spring (spring of 2014). Due to family and personal reasons, I was only able to take the Cognitive Exam (through the National Registry) last month, August.

I was aware that I had to take the Cognitive Exam within 2 years of course completion, and those 2 years will be over May 2015.

Because I took the Cognitive Exam last month (and fortunately, I passed), my skills assessment expired. I was told that I can retake the skills assessment to be officially certified, and I would have to do that until May 2015. I recently contacted my former instructor for advice and I got nothing but condemnation.

So my question is, since I took the Cognitive Exam last month, will it still be valid even after my 2 years are over?
Can I retake the entire course this upcoming spring even when my 2 years have not expired yet?
If I can retake the course this Spring, will my Cognitive Exam still be valid? Or will everything reset and would I have to retake the Cognitive exam?

I'm hoping to resolve this issue as smoothly as possible due to financial issues. Any help, advice, comment would be appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[RedAirplane]

I would call the NREMT people and ask about your specific situation. I tried to make sense of the website but got very confused. Maybe someone on here is very familiar with the policies and procedures?

 

[EBMEMT]

I suspect you mean May 2016, since may 2015 is long past.

So my question is, since I took the Cognitive Exam last month, will it still be valid even after my 2 years are over?

My Guess: No. If you fail to complete both exams within 24 months of completing the class, you must start over from scratch.

• "If you have never held a state license as an EMT or NREMT certification and it has been more than two years from the completion of your EMT course, you must complete an entire state-approved EMT course prior to applying for National Certification.

Can I retake the entire course this upcoming spring even when my 2 years have not expired yet?

My guess: I think you can, if you are paying for it. Never seen a hint of anything to suggest otherwise.

If I can retake the course this Spring, will my Cognitive Exam still be valid? Or will everything reset and would I have to retake the Cognitive exam?

My guess: there is probably nothing requiring you to retake the cognitive exam as long as you complete the practical exam and your NREMT application within 12 months of completing your cognitive exam.

All this, however, should be a moot point. You should not need to retake the class to pass your psychomotor exam. The exam is a pain but passing it should be something you could do with about month of study and practice, considering you are doing well enough to pass your cognitive exam and should remember enough about how to handle various scenarios to get through the trauma and medical stations. I would also suggest you try before retaking the class, because:

• why take the whole class over if you don't have to? It takes a lot of time, money, and is demoralizing.
• the class actually could distract you from what you need to study/practice to pass the psychomotor exam.
• by the time the spring class finishes, it will probably be too late to complete your psychomotor exam before your cognitive exam expires.
• if you do fail the psychomotor exam and retest, then you can't retest until you have had at least some remedial instruction - at which point you might well consider retaking the class.
• go ahead and sign up for the class and drop it when you pass before it starts.

You should be able to get help from a nearby rescue squad station on passing your psychomotor exam in the form of access to the equipment, practice victims, and someone to give you scenarios and score your performance. Get a voice recorder (cell phone) and record yourself verbalizing your practical skill sheets line by line and play it back while scoring (and timing) yourself. Then mix in physically doing it at the station.

NREMT website will not help you find a basic level practical exam session. In my state, there is a website you can go to to register for the psychomotor exams that also has listings of when they are. There is typically an exam date in each regional EMS council/district once every month or two months and if you are willing to travel an hour you could probably take an exam most weekends. Unfortunately, not all states are that organized. But if you check with the organization that handles your district and neighboring districts, you should be able to find out the test dates.