By Leila Merrill
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians’ board of directors voted Wednesday to rescind its controversial resolution on expanding eligibility requirements after many EMS groups expressed their objections publicly.
Those organizations included the National Association of EMS Physicians, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the National EMS Management Association and the National Association of EMS Educators.
The resolution would have changed the eligibility criteria for all certification levels to include the successful completion of an EMS education program that meets or exceeds the National Emergency Medical Services Education Standards and has been awarded CAAHEP accreditation; has been issued a CoAEMSP “letter of Review;” or has received state EMS office approval.
A statement issued Thursday and signed by Dr. Kevin Mackey, chair of the National Registry Board of Directors, states that NREMT “will continue conversation with national partners and key stakeholders to progress towards more inclusive solutions.”
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To that end, there will be a task force made up of representatives from 10 organizations intended to work “collaboratively, with transparency, and with the vested interest to our broader national EMS community, to further the conversation and explore solutions for the challenges facing our ‘EMS education systems.’”
The organization said it received more than 1,150 responses to 22-Resolution-13 during the comment period after announcing the resolution in June.
The statement responded to the reactions by saying:
“While we regret the magnitude of the disruption from the draft resolution, we are confident that the nation’s EMS system has emerged with a collaborative and common purpose. We witnessed the passion behind the ‘systems approach’, a concept forged years ago to unite all parts of our profession.”