Strategies of high-performing EMT-basic educational programs

The objective of this project was to identify the specific educational strategies used by emergency medical technician (EMT) educational programs that have attained consistently high success rates on the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) examination.

NREMT data from 2001 to 2005 was analyzed in order to identify consistently high-performing EMT-Basic educational programs. Representatives from each program were invited to participate in a focus group. Using the nominal group technique (NGT), participants were asked to answer the following question: "What are specific strategies that lead to a successful EMT-Basic educational program?"

Ten out of the 12 EMS educational programs meeting the eligibility requirements participated. After completing the seven-step NGT process, 12 strategies were identified as leading to a successful EMT-Basic educational program: 1) accept students who are highly motivated to succeed; 2) assure institutional support; 3) administer multiple assessments; 4) develop standardized lesson plans; 5) have a passing standard that is above the minimum competency level; 6) hire qualified/certified instructors; 7) maintain effective communication between didactic, practical, and field instructors; 8) maintain instructional consistency; 9) provide clearly defined objectives; 10) provide immediate feedback for written, practical evaluations to students; 11) require prerequisites; and 12) teach test-taking skills.

Twelve specific strategies were identified by high-performing EMT-Basic programs. From these, seven recommendations to improve programmatic pass rates on the NREMT certification exam were derived. Further study should be conducted to determine if implementation of these recommendations improves programmatic pass rates on the NREMT certification exam.