This article will cover everything you need to know to keep your national certification up to date as a paramedic.

NREMT Recertification Requirements

I really wish I hadn’t let my national paramedic certification expire.

It’s so much easier just to keep it than it is to get it back. And it’s a lot less expensive.

But just like a lot of paramedics (and EMTs) I figured I was never going to move out of state. There was no reason for me to spend the time, energy, or money keeping my NREMT.

State was good enough for my department and it was good enough for me.

I was wrong.

You never know what life is going to through at you in a few years.

Switching jobs became a lot harder without the national cert. Getting it back was a huge pain in the butt.

Hey, I’m Shay. I’ve been working in EMS for over a decade now. I’ve also taught paramedic and EMT programs for a community college for a few years now.

Today, I’m going to cover everything you need to keep your National Registry Certification so you don’t have to worry about trying to get re-certified.

Must Be That Time of Year

Or every other year I guess.

Because just like state certifications you need to update your national registry every two years.

The cool thing is, most states let you use your national registry certification to recertify your state license. As long as you’re affiliated with a medical department.

Pretty dope if you ask me.

Just show the NREMT you have your state license and prove you work somewhere where you use your skills and they basically ship out your renewed license.

Couldn’t be easier than that.

Continuing Education Credits

There is one more requirement to keeping your NREMT.

You have to keep up with your education. What you thought you were done with classes? Nope, it never ends.

Thankfully the NREMT tells you exactly what you need to take every two years.

It’s 60 hours of continuing education (CE) every two years. Sounds like a lot but its really pretty easy to keep up with. Especially if your department puts on its own trainings.

Those 60 hours are broken into

• 6 hrs Airway
• 5 hrs Trauma
• 8 hrs Medical
• 4 hrs Operations
• 7 hrs Cardiovascular
• 15 hrs Require By State (Varies)
• 15 hrs Individual study

So really your CEs let you dive into any part of paramedicine you are interested in.

There are a lot of online programs that you can get CEs through, but I personally like Impact EMS

You Recertified!

That’s really all there is to it.

Get those 60 hours of CEs and send them into the NREMT website, wait a few days, and you’re good to go.

However, sometimes people don’t like this option.

I don’t know why.

But there is a backup plan if you’re one of them.

Retake the NREMT (Optional)

You can skip all those CEs if you want.

Find a Pearson Vue testing center near you and sign up to take your National Registry Exam all over again.

That’s right. You can skip everything above and just challenge the exam.

If you pass, you get your recertification notification in your email within a few hours. Easy peasy.

Except I remember that test being awful.

Not that it was super hard. Just that the questions are always worded weirdly. And they almost never seem like the real answer you would give in the field.

Plus, the NREMT exam just changed. You can read all about the new exam here.

Oh, and it’s $175 for every time you take the test. If you fail and want a redo, that’s another $175.

The risk doesn’t seem worth the reward for me. I like the CE courses. It’s important to keep up on the newest information in a rapidly changing field like paramedicine.

But I’m not your boss. Do whatever you want.

P.S. If you want more paramedic resources, or need help prepping for that NREMT, you can find a full list of our recommended resources here.