OHIO TRANSITION PLAN TO ADDRESS NREMT STATE-APPROVED TRANSITION
COURSE
October 5, 2011
NREMT TRANSITION POLICY NOTICE
Ohio EMS providers have recently received a notice from the National Registry
of EMTs (NREMT) regarding a “Transition Plan” to maintain their NREMT
certification. The NREMT Transition Policy, adopted June 8, 2011, requires the
current holder of a NREMT certificate to complete a state-approved transition
course in order to be eligible for its National EMS Certification.
The NREMT Transition Policy only affects those Ohio EMS providers who wish
to maintain their NREMT certification. The Ohio Revised Code and the
Administrative Code do not require EMS providers with current and valid Ohio
certificates to practice to also hold a National EMS Certification.
OHIO TRANSITION PLAN
The State EMS Board has adopted the National EMS Education Standards and
the National EMS Scope of Practice Model as a minimum guideline for Ohio EMS
providers. The action does not reduce the current Ohio EMS scope of
practice in fact additional psychomotor skills have been added to the draft
Ohio curriculum and scope of practice rules. The State EMS Board is in the
final steps of the rule revision process and expects the new Ohio curriculum,
scope of practice and EMS titles rules to become effective by mid-February
2012.
The draft curriculum rules include refresher programs that will meet the
national scope of practice model, the Ohio specialty topic renewal
requirements and the NREMT Transition Policy, which requires a state-
approved course. The draft curriculum and refresher rules are based on the
national EMS education standards as well as the standards established by the
EMS Board. The Ohio Refresher programs will be the only courses approved by
the State Board to meet the NREMT transition criteria.
The draft rules are currently posted on the EMS website under DRAFT RULES
FOR PUBLIC COMMENT – http://www.ems.ohio.gov/ems_laws.stm. The draft
rules are expected to go to the Ohio EMS Board in October for approval, to
public hearing in December and to the legislative committee, JCARR, in January
2012. If this timetable is met, the rules should become effective in February
2012. Again, these are draft rules and have not been approved.
Please visit the EMS web site for updates www.ems.ohio.gov and watch for e-
mail announcements from an EMS listserv. Please use the following link to
register to receive EMS listserv announcements:
http://www.ems.ohio.gov/ems_outreach.stm