State and National Accreditation
EMSNeeds.com continuing education is approved by the Ventura County EMS Agency. Continuing education completed through EMSNeeds.com is valid throughout the state of California. All courses on this site are accredited by the state of California (Provider # 56-0016), which in turn are certified by NREMT and NHTSA for continuing education hours (CEH) in other states. Verify your state EMS office accreditation and certification requirements. EMSNeeds.com courses are certified virtual instructor-led courses that qualify for 100% of California CE requirements and will be verified on your certificate as instructor-led. Course content is equivalent to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic National Standard Curriculum HS 808862 and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Emergency Medical Technician-Basic National Standard Curriculum HS 808149.
EMSNeeds.com courses are reviewed by state officials and professional medics for clinical accuracy. Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS) certification is in progress. Courses continue to be added as soon as approved. EMSNeeds serves the entire state of California and is in turn certified at the national level by NREMT and NHTSA for CE units as credit in other states.
Article 1 – Definitions
§ 100390. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Continuing Education (CE) Provider
EMS Continuing Education Provider means an individual or organization approved by the requirements of this Chapter, to conduct continuing education courses, classes, activities or experiences and issue earned continuing education hours to EMS Personnel for the purposes of maintaining certification/licensure or re-establishing lapsed certification or licensure. NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 1797.107, 1797.172, 1797.174, 1797.175, 1797.185, and 1797.194 Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 1797.7, 1797.172, 1797.185, and 1797.214 Health and Safety Code.
§ 100390.2. EMS System Quality Improvement Program
"Emergency Medical Services System Quality Improvement Program" or “QIP” means methods of evaluation that are composed of structure, process, and outcome evaluations which focus on improvement efforts to identify root causes of problems, intervene to reduce or eliminate these causes, and take steps to correct the process pursuant to Chapter 12 of Division 9, Title 22, California Code of Regulations. NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 1797.107, 1797.172, 1797.174, 1797.175, 1797.185, and 1797.194 Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 1797.7, 1797.172, 1797.185, and 1797.214 Health and Safety Code.
§ 100390.3. Continuing Education
Continuing education (CE) is a course, class, activity, or experience designed to be educational in nature, with learning objectives and performance evaluations for the purpose of providing EMS personnel with reinforcement of basic EMS training as well as knowledge to enhance individual and system proficiency in the practice of pre-hospital emergency medical care. NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 1797.107, 1797.172, 1797.174, 1797.175, 1797.185, and 1797.194 Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 1797.7, 1797.172, 1797.185, and 1797.214 Health and Safety Code.
§ 100390.7. Pre-hospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel
For the purpose of this chapter, Pre-hospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel or EMS Personnel means EMT-I, EMT-II or EMT-Paramedic as defined in Health and Safety Code Sections 1797.80, 1797.82, and 1797.84, respectively. NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 1797.107, 1797.172, 1797.174, 1797.175, 1797.185, and 1797.194 Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 1797.7, 1797.172, 1797.185, and 1797.214 Health and Safety Code.
The National EMS Core Content by 2010
The National EMS Core Content will present the broad domain of knowledge and skills which encompass the out-of-hospital EMS disciplines by identifying the general practices of EMS providers without reference to discrete provider levels. The National EMS Core Content document will be authored primarily by the EMS medical community, with input from EMS regulators, EMS educators, and EMS providers. The EMS medical community will be physicians who have direct involvement in EMS. NHTSA will be responsible for overseeing the process.
Universal acceptance of National EMS Education Program Accreditation will result in extensive self-assessment of EMS education programs and the implementation of continuous quality improvement initiatives. Having clear standards and guidelines, programs will improve their faculty and the overall quality of instruction. They are structure, process, and outcome oriented. Programs and instructors will use the National EMS Education Standards and commercially available or locally developed instructional support material to develop curriculum materials.
EMSNeeds.com is in compliance with current accreditation and aims to be fully aligned with national standards now and each subsequent year so that all continuing education hours (CEH) are accepted seamlessly guaranteeing the integrity of your instruction and credit online.
Criteria for Acceptable Continuing Education Activity
(A) The program's content, teaching methodologies, and evaluation methods shall be based on written learning objectives which are specific, attainable, measurable, and descriptive of expected learner outcomes.
(B) The target audience shall be identified and there shall be evidence of program planning based on the needs of the potential target audience.
(C) Content shall be relevant to emergency medical services practice and/or health care, shall be related to and consistent with the program's objectives, and shall provide for the professional growth and/or maintenance of the certificant or licensee.
(D) Principles of adult education shall be used in the design and delivery of the program.
(E) There shall be documentation of the program developer's expertise in the content area.
(F) Learning experiences and teaching methods shall be appropriate to achieve the objectives of the program.
(G) Time allotted for each activity shall be sufficient for the learner to meet the objectives of the program.
(H) The program shall include activities to evaluate participant achievement of the program's learning objectives with clearly defined, stated criteria for successful completion.
(I) Participants shall complete a written evaluation of the program and instruction. State and/or National conferences may be exempt from this requirement.
(J) The continuing education provider shall timely furnish each participant with a written record of the participant's successful completion of the EMS educational activity. The record shall specify the name of the continuing education provider, the title, date and location of the educational activity, a description of the content area, the number of contact hours awarded, and the name of the organization granting approval.
(K) Program records of a continuing education provider shall be maintained by the provider for a minimum period of five years from the date of the program completion and shall include target audience, objectives, and documentation of instructor qualifications, teaching strategies and materials, evaluation instruments and results, and a list of names of participants.