NREMT Recert

[46Young]

I was updating my CEU's on the NREMT site today, and found that I need to enter a bunch of stuff from work, which is a bit of a pain. Then I had a bright idea. Over the last year or so, I took human biology and pharmacology at NVCC. I called NREMT, and they said that you get 12 CEU's for each class. My refresher training was completed by my EMS Capt already, so I'm good to go for the remaining 24!

This should be yet another reason to take these type of courses if you had only an abridged version in medic (or I) school. That's 24 credits that you can take online from home, more if you want, and they get you that much closer to the degree of your choosing. This applies to state recerts too, I'm sure.

 

[Pneumothorax]

12 CE's per class? Seriously? Omg did they specifically what class or type of classes? Bc if that's the case I might have some to save me from doing monthly CE's Lmaooo

 

[medicdan]

Most states and nremt accept college- level science courses (general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, genetics, gen bio, physio, anatonomy, etc), you just need to submit a copy of your transcript (or proof of completion), syllabus, and a short letter with your certification numbers, requesting credit.
(Written @ ncemsf)

 

[46Young]

12 CE's per class? Seriously? Omg did they specifically what class or type of classes? Bc if that's the case I might have some to save me from doing monthly CE's Lmaooo

I'm guessing that they grant one four CEU's per credit hour. I didn't specify how many credits each class was; human biology was four credits, and pharm was three. Either they assumed that each class was three credits, or they give 12 CEU's per class regardless.

I'd recommend calling the 614 number found at the bottom of the NREMT homepage. That's what I did.

 

[EMT Dan]

I'm wondering if you can double dip at all with the recertification CEs on the NREMT website.

Right now, I have 30/48 hours for the EMT RELATED CONTINUING EDUCATION section, and 18/24 hours for the REFRESHER TRAINING section. I'm not doing the "traditional" 24 hour refresher course, instead I'm using CEs that I've gotten in the particular subject required and using those...but those CEs could just as easily be used for the 48-hour Continuing Education part as well - that is, if I'm allowed to use them simultaneously in both.

Any thoughts? There seems to be some confusion in my department about it, but the way I read the NREMT website it seems like I need to get a grand total of 72 hours of unique CEs (EMT CEs + Refresher CEs, no double-dipping).

Anyone more clear than I am?

 

[JPINFV]

I'm guessing that they grant one four CEU's per credit hour. I didn't specify how many credits each class was; human biology was four credits, and pharm was three. Either they assumed that each class was three credits, or they give 12 CEU's per class regardless.

It's hour for hour credit with the normal caveat of 12 hours per topic for paramedics (24 for EMT). The course work is limited to course work applicable to use in EMS.

Category 2 CME: The following are maximum hours per course that
can be applied towards Additional EMS Related
Continuing Education hours:
■ A maximum number of 12 hours can be applied
from any one topic area.
...
College Courses
Hour for hour credit can be applied for college courses that relate to your role as an EMS professional (for example, but not limited to, anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry, pharmacology, psychology, sociology, statistics, etc.)

https://www.nremt.org/nremt/downloads/EMT.Paramedic.pdf

 

[JPINFV]

but those CEs could just as easily be used for the 48-hour Continuing Education part as well - that is, if I'm allowed to use them simultaneously in both.

The actual CME requirement for NREMT is 72 hours. For paramedics, that 72 hours is broken down into a 48 hour refresher (or equivalent courses as specified) and 24 hours of additional CMEs with EMTs being broken down into 24 hours of refresher and 48 hours of additional CMEs. As such, you can't use a course to fulfill both the refresher requirement and the additional CME requirement.

 

[EMT Dan]

JPINFV,

Thanks for the info.

72 hours seems like a pretty significant chunk of CEs for an EMT-B level certification. I wonder if EMT retention would be improved if it weren't for the somewhat onerous recertification process.

Although I have a feeling that's probably not a unique discussion, and has many opinions on either side.

 

[JPINFV]

72 hours over 104 weeks comes out to less than an hour a week. How is this onerous, especially considering the tiny education requirment for EMTs? The key is to spread it out instead of trying to complete 72 hours (which, again, includes the 24 hour refresher course) in the month or two before expiration?

 

[EMT Dan]

I think it depends on the situation and the perspective.

On one hand, you're absolutely right: averaging the 72 hours of CEs over the course of two years isn't much at all.

However, from the point of view of a new EMT: my volunteer fire department holds one EMS-related training session a month every month except December. Over two years, that's 22 hours of CEs (if you count each session as a full hour...questionable), and that's if you take it to the two-year limit. Most everyone else at the station only needs to maintain state cert through a 24-hour refresher every 3 years, so they're not altogether concerned with finding or providing CEs. My situation is that I likely won't be living in this state in another year and a half, so I alone need to maintain NREMT.

That leaves the brand-new EMT at a volunteer FD searching for ways to fill 26 hours of CEs (assuming the refresher course is taken) -- four more than his FD was able to get for him through their training program over an entire two years.

Now, there's plenty of different websites offering online CEs for paid subscriptions, but that leaves the brand new EMT (with little experience) trying to figure out which sites are legitimate, and then signing up to pay even more money out of pocket (in addition to the $650 EMT course), just to maintain the cert. And oh, by the way, there are NREMT restrictions to the amount of online CEs you're able to use.

So that's my point. It's not the time requirement that's onerous, it's the process of determining where legit CEs can be found, figuring out how much you're allowed to use, and trying to do it in an economical way that doesn't cost even more.

As an aside - I'm not in the habit of making excuses; 10 years in the military tends to minimize that. I found my way to EMS Today (a conference I doubt even my training officer knows about), and managed to find a hospital an hour away out of state that will allow me to take their EPC and PHTLS courses for free with their personnel (instead of paying the roughly $300 per course anywhere local).

Again, it's not the time requirement alone that's an issue; it's the process of figuring out the rules and just trying to find a way to get those CEs (sometimes a challenging prospective for someone brand new to the field), and realizing you have to do 50% of the hours of your full core EMT course just to stay certified.