Any reason to keep national registry certification?

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Gilliam on September 20, 2009 at 5:39am

I think you are missing a big point of national certification. We can't go anywhere as a profession if we don't have a uniform standard. Is it necessary in every state, no. But let me make a point to you. Just about every medic I know who's let their National Registry lapse has later said they wished they hadn't. It's more difficult to get it back once it's lapsed, so just keep up your con-ed and keep your NREMT-P. You may not think you need it now, but you'll be closing off future possibilities by letting it go. And who knows, maybe one day in a perfect world, National Registry will become the true national standard and you'll be ahead of the curve.

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Permalink Reply by Duncan Hitchcock on September 20, 2009 at 6:41am

I would strongly encourage you to keep your national certification.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Kirkwood on September 20, 2009 at 6:49am

At some point in your career, you may want to move outside of your current state. BY FAR the easiest way to get recognized in another state is via the National Registry - even states which don't use the Registry for their own test often recognize it. Once you loose it, it is MUCH harder to get back than it is to just keep it up in the first place (which is not hard).

Let it go and you'll probably wish that you didn't, some day.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Rubin on September 20, 2009 at 9:08am

Just to build on the other replies, it would have been much more difficult for me to retain my medic certification when I relocated if I hadn't been nationally registered. It's hard to predict where we'll be five or ten years from now (well, except for old guys like me). Being nationally registered gives you more flexibility.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Habel on September 20, 2009 at 9:33am

As Training Officer for my dept. I encourage everyone to keep up their National Registry. Of course not everyone does but thats their choice. If you ever change states it will be much easier if you have it. I realize the argument can be made that it's alot of education in a short time to obtain but it can be done. I schedule almost 60 hrs yearly for our dept. which I realize not all do. Also in Michigan we are fortunate enough to have EMS Expo and conferences such as the ones at Air Care in Kalamazoo to get more CE credits. Most anybody should be able to keep it which is alot easier than trying to get that certification back, if they are willing to put forth the effort.

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Permalink Reply by Chance Gearheart on September 20, 2009 at 2:35pm

Jesus, son! NREMT-P is something I would never let go! Not only will you have major troubles getting licensed in another state should you choose to, or should you need to move to one, being nationally registered is a prerequisite for most higher education levels, such as CCEMT-P, Wilderness Medic, or even taking most bridge courses to RN. National Registry now allows you to renew with CEU, you dont have to attend the refresher courses.

After all the studying, trouble, and money you spend to get registered, keep that thing!

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on September 20, 2009 at 5:12pm

My department requires every EMT-B and EMT-I to maintain NREMT certification at their level of practice. It is now a state requirement except for a few "grandfathered" paramedics as well.

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Permalink Reply by Justin on September 20, 2009 at 5:38pm

Hmm I guess you guys are right. I'll try and find a way to get more CEs or just take the exam.

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Permalink Reply by Chance Gearheart on September 20, 2009 at 10:19pm

Contact your local aeromedical or specialty team. Many of them hold refresher courses atleast every quarter for their paramedics and the general population.

Justin said:

Hmm I guess you guys are right. I'll try and find a way to get more CEs or just take the exam.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Durkee on September 21, 2009 at 1:33am

Yup yup - -

My medic license was grandfathered into Michigan (a Registry state since 2000-01 or so) and now that I've moved to Cali, I will have to take the Registry exam to transfer my Michigan license to Cali.

The costs of doing so are:

$600 for a NREMT-P "refresher" course (even though my current Michigan Medic license is current);
$75 for a "Live Scan" electronic fingerprint check;
$230 State of California EMS Agency (EMSA) license transfer application fee (seems a bit steep, dont it?);
$15 to have a copy of my EMS record transferred (and verified) from Michigan to Cali;
$110 NREMT application fee (and then $20 to renew every three years);
$50 for an optional "Practical Exam Practice Session" that, although optional, I was told it is almost impossible to pass without it;
$?? for computer-based test fees, practical exam fees, and other test fees should i actually FAIL the written or practical test at the first go (even though I just taught the NHTSA Paramedic curricula last year in Oregon);



Sorry guys. This is why so many walk away. $1,000 to transfer a 20-year medic license from one State to another is just too steep for me. And I make well into the six-figures each year as a pubic health emergency manager. Add that to the fact that the NAEMT association ($30/year annual dues) hasn't really done anything outstanding to help me or the field, and I'm done. I'll keep my Michigan license current, though (I just renewed for $25; i'm good til Oct. 2012) and I'll keep paying for my subscription to JEMS and EMS Responder. If I should find a job that requires a Cali Medic License, then they are going to have to pay for it. Which of course they won't.

I'm on the fence on whether to keep my Advocates for EMS membership ($50/year) or not... it's up at the end of this year. They do good work so I'm thinking of renewing.

I'm still current in ACLS ($75/2 Years), PEPP or PALS ($75/2 Years) and PHTLS ($250/ 3 years) and AMLS (I forgot how much I paid for that one) and BLS (it's usually free for me) as well as the other certs I hold that are not necessarily required, but good to have (ITLS, ADMR, ARLS, AHLS) and you can see just how much money I'll save by NOT getting a Cali Medic License.

Of course now I won't be able to work for AMR (which starts its Medics out at $24/hr here in Silicon Valley) or Silicon Valley Ambulance ($18/hr. starting Medic salary) but I think I'll survive. By the way - - Average cost of a house in Silicon Valley = $235,000, down $80K from last year.

Congratulations, Dr. Greg Gibson, good luck in your new position as Research Director at the NREMT. I hope your research leads you to study why so many EMS professionals leave the field once they earn a Master's Degree or why EMTs/Medics steal money & valuables from their patients. Maybe you can get with Patrick Moore, Connie Meyer, and Pamela Lane and study why so many EMS people move to Fire. NREMT executive director William E. Brown doesn't seem to care.... but he does care about taking your money, Justin.

Hey they say that once you bend over the first time, it's easier to take it again and again. So my advice is: keep that $200 piece of paper. Add it to your collection of cards.

-Tom

p.s. - THIS JUST IN! The State of California has just RAISED the fees to renew a EMT/Paramedic license to $180 paid every two years. And oh, the California EMSA (Cali EMS Agency) will be closed three additional days each month as "furlough days". Talk about the last nail in the coffin....

Any EMT/Medic wanna switch to Emergency Management, let me know. we're hiring. No B.S. annual recert fees required.

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Permalink Reply by Joe P. on September 21, 2009 at 2:02am

Meh, NREMT fees are nothing. Do you know how much the Unisted States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) or Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX) costs for physician licensing? I'll take the $110 for a single application over. For COMLEX, steps 1 and 2 written are $485 each while step 3 is $650. Additionally step 2 performance exam (PE) (essentially a practical exam) is $1095. Oh, yea, plus the PE is only offered in Philadelphia. Imagine having to fly to NREMT headquarters to take a practical exam.

Additionally, if I want to go to an MD residency, there's a good chance that I'll have to take steps 1 and/or 2 of the USMLE in ADDITION to the COMLEX. In the grand scheme of things, the NREMT exam is cheap.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Durkee on September 21, 2009 at 2:08am

Good point, Joe. And you are right. Except that physicians make far, far more than Medics or EMTs. But your point is valid.

I guess I'm just getting to the age where everything seems exhorbantly expensive compared to the way things used to be. Or maybe it's cuz I moved to Calfornia where each of the 60 or so employees of the EMSA (California State EMS Agency in Sacramento) make on average $85K/year, yet thanks to furloughs, go to work 15 (on average) days per month.

"Pubic Health Emergency Manager! HA HA HA HA HA! I deserved that one!"

-Tom

Joe P. said:

Meh, NREMT fees are nothing. Do you know how much the Unisted States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) or Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX) costs for physician licensing? I'll take the $110 for a single application over. For COMLEX, steps 1 and 2 written are $485 each while step 3 is $650. Additionally step 2 performance exam (PE) (essentially a practical exam) is $1095. Oh, yea, plus the PE is only offered in Philadelphia. Imagine having to fly to NREMT headquarters to take a practical exam.

Additionally, if I want to go to an MD residency, there's a good chance that I'll have to take steps 1 and/or 2 of the USMLE in ADDITION to the COMLEX. In the grand scheme of things, the NREMT exam is cheap.

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