If your NREMT certification has lapsed, our advice is not to panic–it happens. Perhaps you chose not to recertify in the past or forgot to and now find that you’d benefit from being a National Registry-certified medical professional.
Depending on the certification you previously held through the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT), you’ll usually find a recertification pathway for people in your position, although this, unfortunately, doesn’t apply to all. In this guide, we’ll clarify how you can get your certification back, the steps to follow, and where these differ depending on whether you were certified as an EMR, EMT, AEMT, or paramedic.
How to Reinstate National Certification Status as an EMR With a Lapsed License
The EMR certification level is the only one where reinstating lapsed certification isn’t so straightforward. Professionals who haven’t recertified their EMR national licenses need to retake EMR school over again. Likewise, if you fail the NREMT exam three times, there isn’t a remedial training option that allows you to have another go. Instead, you have to head back to the drawing board and take the full course again.
This also applies to EMRs who find that either their national certification or state licensure has expired. However, most programs and courses only last about four to eight weeks, so returning to school or a training program is far less of an undertaking than at other levels.
EMR rules differ from those for other certifications, which means the great news is that if you’ve previously been nationally certified at a level from EMT to paramedic, you can join a faster recertification route. Another positive is that if you’re worried about failing the EMR exam for the third time or find retraining daunting, our Video Vault has a wealth of resources to get you back to fully certified status.
Applying to Reinstate NREMT Certification as an EMT, AEMT, or Paramedic
For all other levels of medical professionals certified by the National Registry of Medical Technicians (NREMT), you can opt into the recertification route offered specifically for those who used to hold national certification but where this has lapsed–for any reason.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of what’s involved:
- First, you’ll need to take a full recertification program, with forty hours of continuing education for EMTs, fifty for AEMTs, and sixty for paramedics.
- You should verify that your course is either CAPCE-accredited or State EMS Office-approved and that it is broken down correctly into national, local, and individual content components on a 50/25/25 basis–this is mandatory and a standard set by the National Registry.
- Once you’ve knocked out your continued education program hours and received your direct email confirmation as evidence from The Paramedic Coach, you’ll need to check you have an up-to-date Basic Life Support (BLS) and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certificate. If not, you can book this locally or use an online course.
- Next, you need a copy of your lapsed certification, which you can find by logging into your old National Registry profile or contacting the NREMT.
- Finally, you must retake the NREMT exam as a last step toward reinstating your certification. This shows you know, comprehend, and understand all current protocols, approaches, treatments, and policies.
The only additional requirement may be to arrange a skills verification through your medical director, agency, or program. This ensures that you still have the real-world and practical skills to treat patients safely and competently in the field.
How to Navigate the Recertification Process After Your NREMT Certification Has Lapsed
We get that reinstating NREMT certification can seem complex, with a number of hoops to jump through, but it is worthwhile. Breaking it down into methodical tasks should make it manageable, and the end goal is to hold full national certification you can renew every two years.
Here at The Paramedic Coach, we’ve designed a complete range of tuition programs and exam prep guides to help. From comprehensive, 100% online continued education courses created for recertification at every level to in-depth and effective exam prep programs proven to work; we have you covered.
If you’re stuck, concerned about how up-to-speed your know-how is, or worried about the prospect of retaking the NREMT exam, we’re here to guide you through, embed your understanding, and share the secret of passing on easy mode alongside offering complete recertification programs to ensure you reach your goal!
