Advanced Placement Paramedic Education for Health Care Professionals: A Descriptive Evaluation

The delivery of emergency medical services is primarily performed by emergency medical technicians and paramedics in the United States. More recently, nurses and physicians have become more involved in the delivery of emergency medical services. Advanced placement paramedic education bridging programs have been developed to prepare the workforce, but the success of these programs is unknown. This study evaluated the demographics and performance of nonemergency medical services health care professionals who attended an advanced placement paramedic education program at a Midwestern university.

This was a retrospective evaluation of student data from 2007 to 2017. Descriptive statistics were used to tabulate demographics, program performance, and individual performance in the National Paramedic Certification Examination.

The program admitted 305 students; registered nurses (95%) were the majority of students. Of the 305 admitted students, 271 (88.9%) fulfilled all program requirements and were eligible to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians paramedic certification examination. Of these 271 eligible students, 201 (74.2%) took the National Paramedic Certification Examination. A total of 195 (97%) obtained certification at the first test attempt, whereas 200 (99.5%) obtained certification within 3 attempts. Of the 200 who passed the test, 175 (88%) successfully demonstrated entry-level competency in paramedic-level psychomotor testing.

The advanced placement paramedic program evaluated in this study had high rates of successful program completion, as well as high first-time and cumulative passing rates for the National Paramedic Certification Examination. Further research is needed to identify the best practices in determining student requirements and the methodologies in delivering advanced placement paramedic education bridging programs.