National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians
Encyclopedia
History
NREMT was established in 1970 in response to President Lyndon Johnson's Committee on Highway Traffic Safety recommended a national certifying agency for Emergency Medical TechnicianEmergency medical technician
Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
s in order to establish and standardize training requirements.
Standards
Most states use or require NREMT testing for some level of state certification. NREMT recognizes three levels of EMT: Basic, Intermediate (two types/levels), and ParamedicParamedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
(some states may have additional certifications). NREMT certification at an EMT Intermediate level may or may not be sufficient for some state EMT-I requirements. While NREMT certification may be mandatory for new state certification, it is not necessarily required for renewals. These procedures and requirements vary from state to state. In 1986, military emergency rooms were required to certify all medical technicians through NREMT.
NREMT-Paramedic (NREMT-P)
Highest level of certificationCertification
Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit...
through the NREMT. This represents the pinnacle of the EMS ladder. Paramedics are considered Advanced Life Support
Advanced Life Support
Advanced Life Support is a set of life-saving protocols and skills that extend Basic Life Support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation .-Components of ALS:These include:...
(ALS) and can administer a range of medication
Medication
A pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...
, as well as perform advanced electrical and invasive surgical interventions (please see Paramedics for a full list of skills.)
NREMT-Intermediate/99 (NREMT-I)
1999 EMT-Intermediate National Standard Curriculum as defined by the Department of TransportationDepartment of Transportation
The Department of Transportation is the most common name for a government agency in North America devoted to transportation. The largest is the United States Department of Transportation, which oversees interstate travel. All U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and many local agencies also have...
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
(NHTSA)
NREMT-Intermediate/85 (NREMT-I)
1985 EMT-Intermediate National Standard CurriculumCurriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
as defined by the Department of Transportation
Department of Transportation
The Department of Transportation is the most common name for a government agency in North America devoted to transportation. The largest is the United States Department of Transportation, which oversees interstate travel. All U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and many local agencies also have...
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
(NHTSA)
NREMT-Basic (NREMT-B)
This level of certification provides Basic Life SupportBasic life support
Basic life support is the level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until the patient can be given full medical care at a hospital. It can be provided by trained medical personnel, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and by...
(BLS
BLS
As an acronym, BLS may stand for:*BLS *Bachelor of Library Science*Bare lymphocyte syndrome*Basic life support, an emergency medical protocol*BellSouth, ticker symbol for the United States telephone company...
). (please see EMT-Basic for a full list of skills)
NREMT-Emergency Medical Responder
Formerly called "first responder." This is the entry level into emergency medical servicesEmergency medical services
Emergency medical services are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient, or the medical practitioner, believes constitutes a medical emergency...
(EMS). They are trained in CPR, basic first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
and patient assessment. Most police and fire services require their employees to be emergency medical responders at a minimum. This course is usually 40-60 hours in length.
Controversy
The NREMT has been criticized for failing to prevent cheating during some exams. The Washington, D.C. Fire Department was currently being investigated for cheating on the NREMT certification exam. However, an extensive investigation by the NREMT, Pearson VUEPearson VUE
Pearson VUE is an electronic testing company owned by British media company Pearson PLC. Founded in 1994 by E. Clarke Porter as Virtual University Enterprises, the company now operates in 165 countries with more than 5,000 authorized test centres ....
(the test administrator), with assistance from the DC Fire and EMS department and the DC police, revealed no evidence of cheating at Pearson VUE’s LaPlata, MD testing center.
The NREMT works with the EMS community to implement the National EMS System including the EMS Agenda for the Future, EMS Education Agenda: A Systems Approach, and National Scope of Practice Model.
See also
- National Association of Emergency Medical TechniciansNational Association of Emergency Medical TechniciansThe National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians ' is a national Emergency medical services professional association representing all EMTs and Paramedics....
(NAEMT) - MedicMedicMedic is a general term for a person involved in medicine, especially emergency or first-response medicine, such as an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or a military member trained in battlefield medicine. Also the term is used toward a Nurse in pre-hospital care and/or emergency...
- Combat MedicCombat medicCombat medics are trained military personnel who are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injury...
- Star of LifeStar of LifeThe Star of Life is a blue, six-pointed star, outlined with a white border which features the Rod of Asclepius in the center, originally designed and governed by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...
- AmbulanceAmbulanceAn ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
- Emergency Medical Service
- Emergency Medical Services in the United StatesEmergency medical services in the United StatesEmergency Medical Services in the United States, provide out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care for those in need...
- Emergency Medical TechnicianEmergency medical technicianEmergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
- EMT-Basic
- EMT-Intermediate
- EMT-ParamedicParamedicA paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...