Study Finds EMT Certifications Easy to Obtain in Massachusetts

[Sailr322 88]

http://www.jems.com/article/news/study-finds-emt-certification-easy-obtai

Interesting article. Any thoughts?

[newsbuff 286]

How many hours is required in Mass.

[Sailr322 88]

How many hours is required in Mass.

From the article I believe it said, "EMTs are subject to 26 days of training". I would think that these are full days and not working days, but I am not sure. Maybe somebody that holds a MA card could answer this for us.

[Sailr322 88]

How many hours is required in Mass.

http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/provider/licensing/occupational/emt/initial-training/overview/public-health-oems-training-basic.html

I found this off the Massachusetts Health and Human Services website. It would appear to be 100 hours of classroom and field training and 10 hours of in-hospital observation, so a total of 110 hours.

[DWC295 70]

I didn't really get the point of this article from the Herald. I was going to say 120 hours but the post above has it correct. I won't characterize getting your certification in MA as this easy. I worked out of state for five years and was unable become certified at the level I was at in another state because of MA regulations and couldn't go down a provider level. I let my certs go and a few years later took my EMT-B in MA to become certified again. I wonder if this article is referring to the EMS boot camps that have sprung up down here. I know they claim to get you out the door in a very short period. The program I took my EMT-B was very strict and told me it was from the state that you couldn't miss any classes and if you did you had to make it up but it had to be the exact same class. Thanks to the original poster for finding this!

[Sailr322 88]

I didn't really get the point of this article from the Herald. I was going to say 120 hours but the post above has it correct. I won't characterize getting your certification in MA as this easy. I worked out of state for five years and was unable become certified at the level I was at in another state because of MA regulations and couldn't go down a provider level. I let my certs go and a few years later took my EMT-B in MA to become certified again. I wonder if this article is referring to the EMS boot camps that have sprung up down here. I know they claim to get you out the door in a very short period. The program I took my EMT-B was very strict and told me it was from the state that you couldn't miss any classes and if you did you had to make it up but it had to be the exact same class. Thanks to the original poster for finding this!

Thanks for providing an insiders input to my question!

[DWC295 70]

I re-read the article and do get the point of it now. To add my post I would agree with the authors of the story from the Herald. That is a lot of money coming in for licensing fees! It drives me nuts how much you have to pay to recert in this state compared to what the ave. EMT-B in this state/in general makes.