Emergency medical services training levels

US levels of EMS personnel training
Current Name Former Name Training Requirements Authorized Skills
Emergency Medical Responder First Responder ~60 hours
  • Basic first aid and airway management (including OPA and BVM)
  • CPR and AED use
  • Epi-pen
Emergency Medical Technician EMT - Basic ~150-200 hours
  • Advanced first aid and airway management (including OPA/NPA and BVM)
  • Assist patients in taking home meds
  • Limited medication administration (ASA, NTG, IM Epinephrine, Nalaxone, oral glucose, etc per medical director)
  • Oxygen administration
  • Monitoring vitals
Advanced Emergency Medical Technician EMT - Intermediate ~300-450 hours
  • Initiate IVs/IOs
  • Limited IV medication administration (D10, Epi 1:10000 in Cardiac Arrest, Nitrous Oxide)
  • Fluid Resuscitation
  • Airway management (including Supraglottic airway but NOT endotracheal tube)
Paramedic EMT - Paramedic 1000-2000 hours
  • Initiate IVs/IOs
  • 30-40+ Medications (including narcotics, benzodiazepines)
  • Cardiac monitoring and 12-lead ECG interpretation
  • Ultrasound
  • Manual defibrillation and cardioversion
  • Transcutaneous pacing
  • Advanced Airway including endotracheal tube, RSI/DSI
  • Needle/Surgical cricothyrotomy
  • Needle Chest Decompression and/or Finger Thoracostomy
  • Chest tube monitoring

See Also

References