EMS Education

The State of Louisiana requires that Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel adhere to the strictest standards of quality as it relates to education, training, testing, and service. To ensure these efforts, Louisiana requires certification by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) as a prerequisite for licensure at every license level, except for the Emergency Medical Responder (EMR). While NREMT certification is not required to license as an EMR, the license renewal requirements are the same.

In previous re-licensure cycles, most EMR licensees chose to renew through a “Traditional Refresher” method, however, recent policy changes by NREMT may encourage EMRs to pursue Continuing Education (CEUs) outside of the “Traditional Refresher” method. A “Traditional Refresher” is considered a single 16-hour course that satisfies the National Continued Competency Program requirements for re-licensure. The most significant policy change is the removal of “Distributive Education” limits for CEUs.

For license renewal, all continuing education must be state-approved through the Bureau of EMS or be CAPCE-accredited. Education can be gathered through Distributive Education (online) or in-person courses. As of 2022, there are no longer limits on how much Distributive Education (DE) may be used for re-licensure.

The EMR National Continued Competency Program (NCCP) requires a total of 16 hours of continuing education to recertify. The model requires continuing education in three components: (1) a national component, (2) a local/state component, and (3) an individual component. All components and topics must be satisfied to meet the requirements of re-licensure.

For EMRs wishing to forego a “Traditional Refresher” and relicense through CEUs, including CAPCE courses, all continuing education must be submitted through a state-approved EMS education program. The Bureau of EMS does not accept direct submission of CEUs for license renewal. Individual EMS education programs decide whether or not to participate in awarding coursework to licensees. An education program is not required to accept outside CEUs. It is the responsibility of the licensee to locate an EMS education program willing to accept CEUs.

Should an EMS education program choose to participate, the EMS education program will verify that the CEUs requested are valid and meet the NCCP requirements. Upon verification, the agency can create a course in the IMS titled “EMR CEUs” and award credit. Once course credit is awarded the licensee may apply for license renewal. The EMS education program must maintain copies of all CAPCE certificates and state-approved CEUs for a minimum of two license cycles for auditing purposes.

Please note: Courses that cannot be applied towards recertification requirements include duplicate courses, clinical rotations, instructor courses, management/leadership courses, performance of duty, preceptor hours, serving as a skill examiner, and volunteer time with agencies.

Purpose
The State of Louisiana requires that Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel adhere to the strictest
standards of quality and competency as it relates to education, training, testing, and service. In
recognition of the benefit of demonstrating continued competency via active use of skills successfully in
a clinical setting, the Louisiana Bureau of EMS sets forth the following standards to permit the use of
clinical field experience for the purpose of continuing education.
Louisiana-licensed Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel who are actively working for a
Louisiana-approved EMS provider as identified in the Bureau of EMS Information Management System
(IMS) are regularly called upon to practice clinical care for patients. In order to recognize the benefits of
clinical field practice, the Bureau of EMS will permit the awarding of continuing education units (CEUs)
for licensed practitioners who have demonstrated skill competency in documented field practice. The
employing EMS agencies may choose to conduct routine analysis of patient care report (PCR) data and
award CEUs through a Louisiana-approved EMS education program as outlined in the policy below.

Policy
Louisiana-approved EMS providers who have documented successful clinical practice may request
Louisiana-approved EMS Education programs review the documented successful clinical practice and
award CEUs for the purpose of recertification/relicensing.

To receive CEUs for clinical practice, the following guidelines must be followed:

1. EMS providers must use electronic patient care reports (E-PCRs) to track and generate a skills report
   for each employee. Only skills documented as having been administered successfully shall be eligible
   for consideration. Procedures documented in the narrative section of the PCR shall not be counted.
   OR
   If an electronic PCR system is not available, a documented system of tracking skill attempts and
   success rates that includes skills documented in a PCR must be demonstrated to, and approved by,
   the Bureau of EMS Competency Coordinator.
2. Each skill is represented by a bullet point on the table. To receive credit for the skill, the individual
   must perform the skill. Credit is not awarded for taking over a skill from another provider.
3. EMS providers shall generate a report of skills performed within the current license cycle of the
   licensee. Skills performed outside of the two-year license/certification cycle are not eligible for
   CEUs.
4. EMS providers seeking to have CEUs awarded to personnel must provide their skills report to a
   state-approved EMS Education program for review, verification, and awarding of CEUs. It is the
   discretion of the EMS provider to participate. It is the responsibility of the EMS provider to identify
   an EMS Education program to award the CEUs and to submit the information in a timely fashion to
   allow for the awarding of CEUs.
5. Participating EMS Education programs will need to build a “Continuing Education” course in the IMS,
   add all eligible licensees that qualify for credit to the course roster, and assign credit by verifying
   attendance and marking the final disposition. The course should be named “CEU Skills Year: Skill
   name.” A separate course is to be used for each bulleted skill.
6. Documentation of skills performed and credited must be uploaded into IMS in place of a syllabus.
   Failure to provide appropriate documentation may result in CEUs being declared invalid.
7. Upon review, verification, and awarding of CEUs, licensees will be given a certificate by the
   education program noting the course number generated by the IMS and the number of CEUs
   awarded.
8. The number of CEUs awarded via this policy is limited to no more than 25% of the total CEUs
   required for relicensure at the respective level. Licensees may achieve 1 CEU per bulleted skill.
9. Courses created for the purpose of awarding CEUs for clinical skills experience shall be viewed by
   the Bureau of EMS as a standard EMS Education course. These courses are subject to the Quality
   Assurance/Quality Improvement (QA/QI) measure utilized by the bureau.
10. One hour per skill per licensing cycle will be awarded for qualifying skill competency.

Implementation
This policy shall begin with licensees relicensing after April 1, 2025. The Bureau of EMS shall review the
skills and number of successful skills completions eligible for CEUs biannually. The Bureau of EMS may
amend skills and/or the number of successful skills completions as needed. The policy in effect at the
close date of a course created for this purpose will be held to account.