Why is Maryland reciprocity so complicated

[Dust850]

About 10 years ago I was EMS in Maryland. I moved out of the state and got my Ems outside of the sate. Now I am trying to get reciprocity in Maryland and it is ridiculous. All I need is a 12 hour skills refresher because I have an NREMT cert. Hardly anyone is giving these classes! Virginia reciprocity is a lot smoother. Why is Maryland so difficult.

 

[akflightmedic]

14 classes....2 closed, 12 are still open for registration....all OVER the state.

Yeh, they make it difficult for sure!

20 seconds of googling, 30 seconds or less of reviewing the second site which came up.

Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute -- Schedule

zone.mfri.org

 

[NysEms2117]

As somebody actively trying to get Reciprocity with Maryland..... I can tell you Maryland is NOT the problem. Easy as this: 1. Get maryland drivers license, 2. take maryland 12 hour class. 3. get affiliated with anybody. 4. get card... However you want to talk about New York State politics and bureaucracy moving your EMT card out of that state is impossible.

Maryland Fire and Rescue institute / University of Maryland

The Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute is a premier institution for training in emergency services, government and industry.

www.mfri.org

 

[Dust850]

14 classes....2 closed, 12 are still open for registration....all OVER the state.

Yeh, they make it difficult for sure!

20 seconds of googling, 30 seconds or less of reviewing the second site which came up.

Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute -- Schedule

zone.mfri.org

Those 12 classes are done by MFRI and are not open for people that are not “ affiliated” with a local firehouse. Its not for commercial ambulance guys. It takes months to get affiliated. I called a bunch of places that MEIMES gave the list of and most places were not teaching it ( outside of MFRI). I appreciate the sarcasm though lol.

 

[Dust850]

As somebody actively trying to get Reciprocity with Maryland..... I can tell you Maryland is NOT the problem. Easy as this: 1. Get maryland drivers license, 2. take maryland 12 hour class. 3. get affiliated with anybody. 4. get card... However you want to talk about New York State politics and bureaucracy moving your EMT card out of that state is impossible.

Maryland Fire and Rescue institute / University of Maryland

The Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute is a premier institution for training in emergency services, government and industry.

www.mfri.org

Its the affiliation process that takes a while. Its also the taking the class part that is a pain. It is difficult to find people teaching this class outside of MFRI. But MFRI needs you to be a member of a firehouse you cant just pay for it.

But i dont doubt that New York is even worse my friend. New York makes everything complicated lol

 

[NysEms2117]

Its the affiliation process that takes a while. Its also the taking the class part that is a pain. It is difficult to find people teaching this class outside of MFRI. But MFRI needs you to be a member of a firehouse you cant just pay for it.

But i dont doubt that New York is even worse my friend. New York makes everything complicated lol

I called MFRI yesterday... They are on a grant to provide firefighters with medical training FIRST. You can pay 150$ out of pocket if you in the process of obtaining affiliation..

 

[Dust850]

I called MFRI yesterday... They are on a grant to provide firefighters with medical training FIRST. You can pay 150$ out of pocket if you in the process of obtaining affiliation..

Bro I called and emailed and got different answers. One guy said it wasn't open at all for the public. This person chewed me out over email for even attempting to pay for it using MFRI. He thought I was taking a spot away from firefightes.Another person said you can pay for it. That process to pay for it is not easy either. There is no gaurentee that they will approve of it. There are some people within MFRI that don't like the idea of non affiliated people taking the course.

This is what I mean by complicated. There are hardly any private organizations offering it.

Thank you for taking the time to comment and help me out.

 

[NysEms2117]

Bro I called and emailed and got different answers. One guy said it wasn't open at all for the public. This person chewed me out over email for even attempting to pay for it using MFRI. He thought I was taking a spot away from firefightes.Another person said you can pay for it. That process to pay for it is not easy either. There is no gaurentee that they will approve of it. There are some people within MFRI that don't like the idea of non affiliated people taking the course.

This is what I mean by complicated. There are hardly any private organizations offering it.

Thank you for taking the time to comment and help me out.

Theres a difference between taking a spot away from a firefighter and them having a spot open. If there is a spot left- after firefighters its yours... OR MINE!

 

[DrParasite]

However you want to talk about New York State politics and bureaucracy moving your EMT card out of that state is impossible.

I've never moved an EMT card out of state; it's usually provided to the new state, and they grant a new new one. Even getting a NYS card was more of a paperwork headache than anything else, esp since I didn't have a NY job lined up at the time.

Now if you want a headache, try renewing your NJ EMT card if you don't live in NJ.... that's an impossible task, despite having active an active NR card and an active EMT card in another state.

All I need is a 12 hour skills refresher because I have an NREMT cert.

Do you want to be a Md EMT? why would you think you wouldn't need to complete whatever requirements they had to become an Md EMT?

If they said you need to hop on one foot and quack like a duck in order to get a card, than I would suggest you do whatever they asked you to do, and practice your quacking.

Virginia reciprocity is a lot smoother.

So get your Va EMT card, and see if anyone will hire you with a Va EMT card...

Dude, seriously.... if you want to be a Md EMT, expect to jump through some hoops. Since I know Md is a heavily FD based EMS state, maybe they are hinting that they want you to become affiliated with a FD or local agency first? Stop whining about the process and do what you need to do to accomplish your goal!

 

[CANMAN]

I called MFRI yesterday... They are on a grant to provide firefighters with medical training FIRST. You can pay 150$ out of pocket if you in the process of obtaining affiliation..

Maryland has clearly changed how they are doing things over the years. It never used to be this much of a process or that difficult. As far as the payment goes, MFRI classes are free to any member of a MD volunteer organization and I know that hasn't changed..... With that being said, anyone could join a volley house, then when you register online for the class via MFRI website you just list where you are a member and the training officer for that department should approve you to take the class. I am 99/9% sure that portion can happen before and medical "affiliation" form is filled out (used to be a blue form signed by county medical director). That way you at least get the 12 hour class paid for and have priority over a self pay student.

 

[Dust850]

I've never moved an EMT card out of state; it's usually provided to the new state, and they grant a new new one. Even getting a NYS card was more of a paperwork headache than anything else, esp since I didn't have a NY job lined up at the time.

Now if you want a headache, try renewing your NJ EMT card if you don't live in NJ.... that's an impossible task, despite having active an active NR card and an active EMT card in another state.
Do you want to be a Md EMT? why would you think you wouldn't need to complete whatever requirements they had to become an Md EMT?

If they said you need to hop on one foot and quack like a duck in order to get a card, than I would suggest you do whatever they asked you to do, and practice your quacking.
So get your Va EMT card, and see if anyone will hire you with a Va EMT card...

Dude, seriously.... if you want to be a Md EMT, expect to jump through some hoops. Since I know Md is a heavily FD based EMS state, maybe they are hinting that they want you to become affiliated with a FD or local agency first? Stop whining about the process and do what you need to do to accomplish your goal!

Haha first off thanks for the reply. Secondly I am not whining

Maryland has clearly changed how they are doing things over the years. It never used to be this much of a process or that difficult. As far as the payment goes, MFRI classes are free to any member of a MD volunteer organization and I know that hasn't changed..... With that being said, anyone could join a volley house, then when you register online for the class via MFRI website you just list where you are a member and the training officer for that department should approve you to take the class. I am 99/9% sure that portion can happen before and medical "affiliation" form is filled out (used to be a blue form signed by county medical director). That way you at least get the 12 hour class paid for and have priority over a self pay student.

Thank you for understanding. And i might have to join a firehouse. I have no problem joining one because I used to be a part of a Maryland firehouse in the past.

I was just shocked at how much red tape they have added in the past decade compared to other states.

 

[dutemplar]

Yea, heading from PA to MD ten years ago was amusing. I really do believe they make it more difficult to strong-arm people into affiliating with volunteer agencies. For me, finding a place holding the authorized ALS protocol course was fun... until the company had me write the self-study version. take it, and go for the protocol test.

I was told point blank by MIEMSS that i should volunteer in MD to get the affiliation and able to take the class to take the test to get the card, for commercial critical care transport.