Catching Up With the National Registry

The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians is ready to start testing to the new national EMS education standards, and is just waiting for the states and textbook publishers to catch up, executive director William Brown, Jr., RN, MS, CEN, NREMT-P, told attendees at EMS EXPO's NREMT update class. And with the release at the show of one major updated text and another coming soon after, they're getting closer.

Still, even during transition to the new standards, immediate business won't change much for the NREMT. Test questions won't become radically different overnight, Brown said, but overall, tests should have a new look within 4-5 years. Registry officials have been working closely with the National Association of State EMS Officials' Education Agenda implementation team on a smooth segue to the new material.

As described in the 2006 National EMS Scope of Practice Model, there will be four levels of providers under the new standards: emergency medical responder (EMR), emergency medical technician (EMT), advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT) and paramedic. The Scope describes the practices and minimum competencies for each, suggests minimum educational preparation, and designates psychomotor skills. The standards define the competencies, clinical behaviors and judgments to be met by entry-level personnel to meet the Scope's practice guidelines.

Under the Registry's new test plan, the largest component tested will be medical, representing around 30% of test content. Criticality of conditions will be given more weight than frequency. New psychomotor evaluations are coming for the new EMR and EMT levels, and a representative transition scheme for advanced EMTs (though there likely won't be any AEMT testing until 2011). Testing has begun in eight states on a psychomotor competency package for paramedics.

Brown also announced enhancements to the NREMT's computer testing procedures. Most notably, students reregistering online can "bank" CE credits as they complete them. The Registry will ultimately require reregistration to be done online, rather than by traditional methods.

Some additional news:

• In the interest of community relations, the NREMT will conduct a series of monthly webinars in 2010; for more, see www.nremt.org.
• NREMT Associate Director Gregg Margolis, PhD, NREMT-P, accepted a one-year fellowship with the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellows Program in Washington, DC. This fellowship program is, per the sponsoring Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, "the nation's most prestigious learning experience that connects health science, policy and politics." It offers hands-on policy experience with influential congressional and executive offices, and Margolis will get to work directly with top figures in federal health policy. That's important for all of EMS: It's the first time one of us has participated in this program. "EMS is profoundly affected by federal health policy, and we have been largely absent from the process," Margolis noted in accepting the fellowship. "Through this opportunity I hope to learn how we, as a community, can become an effective participant in the national healthcare policy and reform conversations."
• Greg Gibson, PhD, is the Registry's new research director. He was previously project director for Purdue University's Social Research Institute.
• More LEADS data is coming next year in Prehospital Emergency Care. It will have a particular emphasis on minorities in EMS.
• Also on the docket is a partnership with NASEMSO and other stakeholders to discuss potentially scrapping CE requirements in favor of national competency assurance.
• While at the show, Brown received the 2009 Rocco V. Morando Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT).