Emergency Medical Technician (4 year certification)
The Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification program is designed to train an individual to function independently in a medical emergency. This course provides the basic knowledge and skills needed to deliver Basic Life Support (BLS) care and is required to progress to more advanced levels of prehospital patient care.
The course requires a minimum of 144 hours of classroom and skills instruction and 10 hours of Clinical/Field rotations for a total of 154 hours of training. Virginia certification requires successful completion of a standardized cognitive and psychomotor skills examination. This course is designed to train individuals to serve as a vital link in the chain of the health care team. This includes all skills necessary to provide emergency medical care as an attendant-in-charge with a basic life support ambulance service or other specialized rescue service.
Upon successfully completion of the training program, the student will be capable of performing the following functions:
(1) Recognize the nature and seriousness of the patient’s condition or extent of injury to assess requirements for emergency care.
(2) Administer appropriate emergency care to stabilize the patient’s condition.
(3) Lift, move, position and otherwise handle the patient in a way as to minimize discomfort and further injury.
The EMT training program is based upon the Virginia EMS Education Standards derived the USDOT National EMS Education Standards.
There are some basic requrements for being a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for the state of Virgina:
(1) Be proficient in reading, writing and speaking the English language.
(2) Be a minimum of 16 years of age at the beginning date of the certification course. If less than 18 years of age, you must provide the course coordinator with a completed parental permission form with the signature of a parent or guardian verifying approval for enrollment in the course.
(3) Have no physical or mental impairment that would render them unable to perform all cognitive and psychomotor skills required for that level of certification.
(4) Hold current certification in an Office of Emergency Medical Services approved Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) course at the beginning date of the course. This certification must also be current at the time of state testing.
(5) Not have been convicted of or found guilty of any crime, offense or regulatory violation, or participated in any other prohibited conduct identified in state EMS regulations as follows:
(A) Have never been convicted or found guilty of any crime involving sexual misconduct where lack of affirmative consent by the victim is an element of the crime.
(B) Have never been convicted of a felony involving the sexual or physical abuse of children, the elderly or the infirm.
(C) Have never been convicted or found guilty of any crime (including abuse, neglect, theft from, or financial exploration) of a person entrusted to their care or protection in which the victim is a patient or is a resident of a health care facility.
(D) Have never been convicted or found guilty of any crime involving the use, possession, or distribution of illegal drugs except that the person is eligible for affiliation or enrollment five years after the date of final release if no additional crimes of this type have been committed during that time.
(E) Have never been convicted or found guilty of any other act that is a felony except that the felon is eligible for affiliation or enrollment five years after the date of final release if no additional felonies have been committed during that time.
(F) Are not currently under any disciplinary or enforcement action from another state EMS office or other recognized state or national healthcare provider licensing or certifying body. Personnel subject to these disciplinary or enforcement actions may be eligible for certification provided there have been no further disciplinary or enforcement actions for five years prior to application for certification in Virginia.
(G) Have never been subject to a permanent revocation of license or certification by another state EMS office or recognized state or national healthcare provider licensing or certifying body.
(6) All references to criminal acts or convictions under this section refer to substantially similar laws or regulations of any other state or the United States. Convictions include prior adult convictions, juvenile convictions, and adjudications of delinquency based on an offense that would have been, at the time of conviction, a felony conviction if committed by an adult within or outside Virginia.
(7) Be clean and neat in appearance.
(8) May not be under the influence of any drugs or intoxicating substances that impairs your ability to provide patient care or operate a motor vehicle while in class or performing clinicals, while on duty or when responding or assisting in the care of a patient.
The Emergency Medical Technician-Enhanced Virginia Standard Curriculum represents the minimum required information to be presented within a course that leads to a Virginia EMT-Enhanced certification eligibility. All skills and subjects contained in the curriculum for EMT-Enhanced are covered in a minimum of 102 hours of instruction plus a minimum of 48 hours devoted to clinical rotations in the Emergency Department and in the field.
The Intermediate program is designed to certify technicians to a mid-level of pre-hospital advanced life support care in Virginia. This program fulfills all the requirements of the Virginia EMS Education Standards at the Intermediate level.
All skills and subjects contained in the curriculum for Intermediate are covered for a minimum of 272 hours of instruction with a minimum of 68 hours devoted to extensive clinical rotations in specialty units. In addition to the above, the candidate must complete a minimum of 10 patient contact calls in which they act as the Field Team Leader (FTL) on an ALS ambulance. Clinical rotations of this type are not usually available for lower level providers. These additional clinical rotations include time spent in OR/Recovery Units, Critical Care Units, Labor & Delivery Units, Pediatrics, Emergency Department, Family Practice, Mental Health Clinics, Dialysis Clinics, Neurovascular Rehabilitation Clinics, Detoxification Units, and Extended Care Facilities.
The Intermediate program is designed to educate the technician in the following areas of pre-hospital care: preparatory skills, airway management and ventilation, patient assessment, trauma, medical, special considerations and assessment based management.
In Virginia, all initial Intermediate programs are required to satisfy the testing guidelines established by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. Upon successful course completion and National Registry EMT – Intermediate 99 certification, For Virginia trained Intermediates, successful certification at the NREMT – Intermediate 99 level will automatically lead to a Virginia Intermediate certification. NREMT-99 certified technicians trained outside of Virginia must apply for Virginia certification before being allowed to practice at this level. After receiving Virginia credentials, the Intermediate has the option to maintain National Registry Intermediate certification without affecting their Virginia certification; however, Virginia certification must be maintained in order to provide patient care at this level.
