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EMS Certification
There are several levels of EMS Certification in the Commonwealth of PA. Currently they are:
- First Responder – This course is approximately 44-50 hours in length covering the essentials to handle an emergency until additional resources arrive.
- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) – This course builds and enhances an individual’s knowledge over the First Responder. The course length is minimally 123 hours, however; several Training Institutes are longer. This course educates providers to provide care of the ill and injured.
- EMT-Paramedic – The Paramedic Course builds from the EMT course teaching individuals advance assessments, skills, and knowledge to care for the ill and injured.
- Pre Hospital Registered Nurse (PHRN) – A registered nurse in the Commonwealth of PA, can practice in the Pre-Hospital setting provided the nurse has completed certain educational requirements. These requirement are not generally covered in a Nursing Program.
- Healthcare Professional Physician (HP) – This is a Pre-Hospital Physician
There are three ways an individual may become a certified EMS provider in the Commonwealth of PA.
- The first is be completing a certification course and successfully completing the exam process.
- The second is by way of reciprocity, this is when the Bureau of EMS grants an individual certification based on previous equivalent education.
- Finally the Reinstatement process, where the provider completes the necessary requirements for reinstatement.
While a provider is certified there are certain mandates in place that the provider must complete to maintain their certification.
Please take a look at the following pages to see which best applies to you to obtain certification as an EMS provider in the Commonwealth of PA.
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