Paramedic Certification

The Paramedic works in an EMS system under the guidance of a physician. The Paramedic is a direct extension of the hospital-based physician, and can serve as the physician’s eyes, ears, and hands in the street or in the home-anywhere that EMS is needed. Opportunities outside of the traditional Paramedic role may exist in employment in area hospital emergency departments, critical care, life flight, industrial safety, and community para medicine. Essential attributes of the Paramedic candidate include demonstration by testing of academic potential, good physical health, the ability to relate well to people with calm, confident and rational judgment, and a thorough understanding of the operation of the EMS system.

Given the knowledge, skill, and field experience, the Paramedic graduate will be able to:

1. Demonstrate professional conduct and interpersonal communication skills with patients, co- workers, and other health care professionals both verbally and in writing.
2. Initiate and continue pre-hospital care including the recognition of present conditions, assessment of the patient, and initiation of appropriate therapies.
3. Evaluate and adjust the treatments according to patient response.
4. Meet the state of Ohio/National Registry requirements for certification at the level of program completion.

Paramedic Program Admission Requirements: The student must:

1. Fulfill college admission requirements detailed in the college catalog.
2. Be at least 18 years of age;
3. Possess a high school diploma or equivalent;
4. Be a licensed Ohio EMT or A-EMT;
5. Be an active EMT for one year prior to entrance into the program (strongly recommended); If less than one year experience provide a letter of recommendation from a supervisor or department officer, medical director, or EMS instructor.
6. Pass an EMS entrance exam;
7. Provide official forms to document dates of recent tetanus immunization, TB test or chest X-ray, Hepatitis B, MMR, and Chicken Pox vaccines, and physical examination prior to clinical experience at the student’s expense;
8. Submit an Ohio BCI and FBI check prior to clinical experience.
9. Convictions will not prohibit a student from entering the program, but may prohibit completion of clinical, National Registry testing, and/or Ohio certification;
10. Submit a 10 panel drug screen prior to clinical experience at the student’s expense. A positive test will not prohibit a student from entering the program but may prohibit completion of clinical per clinical site policies;
11. Report as requested for personal interview with the program director if required;
12. Provide proof of health insurance coverage.

Upon successful completion of the program, the graduate receives a certificate of completion and is eligible (provided they possess no disqualifying criteria) to apply for the National Registry Paramedic Examination and subsequent Ohio Paramedic certification.

 Paramedic Program Terminal Objective: “To prepare competent entry-level Paramedics in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains with or without exit points at the Advanced Emergency Medical Technician and/or Emergency Medical Technician, and/or Emergency Medical Responder levels.”

CAAHEP Accredited Paramedic Programs and CoAEMSP Letter of Review Programs track and report outcome measures annually to the Committee on Accreditation for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP). The most current CoAEMSP Annual Report was for the calendar year 2020. The most recent success rate for the National Registry of EMT Paramedic/State Cognitive exam was 83%. The most recent positive placement rate for graduates was 83%. Positive placement is defined by the CoAEMSP as ‘Employed full or part-time in a related field and/or continuing his/her education and/or serving in the military’. Positive placement is measured at completion of the program. The most recent retention rate was 75%. 

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Training

NON-CREDIT Certification Courses* offered through Workforce

• Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)
• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
• Advanced EMT (A-EMT)

^{*All certification courses may be offered on campus and off campus locations at area Fire Departments and EMS Providers. An EMT course is conducted on campus each semester and during the summer session. Contact the EMS Program Director for further details. All courses are conducted under Ohio Division of EMS guidelines and students are eligible (provided they possess no disqualifying criteria) for National Registry testing and Ohio certification once the course is successfully completed. Continuing education classes and recertification courses are available for: Emergency Medical Responder, Emergency Medical Technician, Advanced Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic.}

American Heart Association -Basic Life Support (BLS) courses, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, (ACLS) courses, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) courses all in either original and recertification format.

Specialty Training Courses: available upon request. All courses can be offered at off-campus locations subject to minimum student participation and Ohio Department of Public Safety regulations.

Interested parties should contact the EMS Program Director for further information on any of the above EMS training courses/programs.