120 Hours to obtain NREMT-B????

[azemtjunkie79]

My emt-b class was one semester every saturday and two 8 hr clinical shifts.

[zonk7]

my basic class was 140 hours, thats including 8 hours at a particular hospital that didn't do much except made me realize that I wouldn't want to be taken there if I wanted good care. but anyways, my 140 hours wasn't enough , I wish I knew more but thats why I'm in the IV class now. I passed the NREMT on the first take. not easy when I have an anxiety disorder and social phobia! lol :oops:

[Dustdevil]

Of those who pass the 110 to 120 hour classes, I'd say the great majority of them nationwide pass NR on the first or second try, with only few exceptions. Of course, that isn't a particularly good sign for EMS. It means two things: First, NR standards are abysmally low, so even a fireman could pass. And second, the schools are focusing only on drilling their students on those factors needed to pass the test, without any significant focus on teaching what is actually needed to practise EMS intelligently.

Certification -- NR or otherwise -- is meaningless to me, because I expect my personnel to function well above NR standards. If you got less than 250 hours of EMT B training, you're going to have a very difficult time operating competently in my system, even as just an EMT-B. Not that I would ever actually hire an EMT-B. Just speaking hypothetically.

[fireflymedic]

National Registry is simply designed to pass the minimum competency levels. It is up to each individual person how much they learn outside of that. My base class (in class time) was 140 hours with an open lab staffed 8 hours on weekdays and 4 hours on weekends to come practice skills or go through scenarios. Then on top of that, you took a supplementary 9 week anatomy and 9 week physiology class separate, 9 weeks of pharmacology, and 9 weeks of basic cardiology. Top that all off with 150 hours of ride time with 25% of patient contacts done in a BLS only service - we have two which we contract with - with you being the lead basic (much as a medic student would do) the remainder may be done in any type of AMBULANCE service. This gave me a really understanding of why I was doing what I was doing and the injuries behind it as a basic. We also had to write full PCR's for the patients, just minus their name. I passed NR first try with 98%. That speaks alot for the program I went through.

However, I know other programs that did the bare minimum of 120 with 10 hours of ER or ride time with any service and passed because as I said previously, NR is simply a test of the base knowledge. I think basic courses should be more indepth and require more of the students. EMS in general needs an overhaul - but you can't help those that won't help themselves. With all that was offered in my program, there were some students that didn't take advantage, and failed. Not the instructor's problems, they were there if needed, they just weren't utilized. Can't help those that won't help themselves.