The primary goal of any Paramedic educational program is to assure that students are competent at the end of the course of study. Therefore, for many years the CoAEMSP has required programs to track and report their minimum competencies for various age groups, complaints, and skills as specified originally in the Student Patient Contact Matrix. This document was frequently referred to as Appendix G since it was entered in the Self-Study Report on the Appendix G tab. The nomenclature of Appendix G has since been retired.

Preliminary Draft of the CAAHEP Standards for the EMS Professions

The current Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in the Emergency Medical Services Professions became effective in January 2015. Per CAAHEP policies, each Committee on Accreditation (CoA) under the CAAHEP umbrella reviews its profession’s current Standards and Guidelines at least once every ten (10) years. 

At the NAEMSE Annual Symposium last month, Gordy Kokx PhD, NRP, previously the Associate Director of the CoAEMSP, was recognized by his peers with the Legends That Walk Among Us Award by the National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE).

The Legends That Walk Among Us represents the “strong belief that the EMS community needs to honor the men and women who have helped shape EMS education nationally. This award allows us to thank those individuals who continue to mentor us, motivate us, and inspire us through their commitments to EMS Education.”

Congratulations, Gordy!

The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) for all in EMS is pleased to announce its first webinar in a planned monthly series. The series will highlight EMS operational or educational programs with successful practices with inclusion, diversity, equity, and access to EMS students and practitioners.

The first webinar, facilitated by Mr. Brandon Bartell and Mr. Tom Maxian, highlights the “Earn While You Learn” (EWYL) program, which is sponsored by The City of Hartford and American Medical Response. The EWYL pays a group of students to earn their EMT certification with the goal of diversifying EMS practitioners entering the EMS profession.

Mr. Brandon Bartell is the Operations Manager for the Greater Hartford/Northeast CT area for American Medical Response and Mr. Tom Maxian is the Northeast Regional President, Global Medical Response.

After an overview of the program, there will be approximately 30 minutes for Q&A. For additional information on the EWYL program, check out the JEMS article.

The IDEA Professional Learning Community (PLC) is an online community with resources and contacts for all EMS professionals seeking actionable ways to address inclusion, diversity, equity, systemic racism, and accessibility for their EMS organizations.

The IDEA PLC will meet monthly and will feature guests from the EMS community to discuss their programs and best practices for diversity and inclusion, racial inequity and access. Each webinar will last approximately 30 minutes and include a 30 minute Q&A session directly afterward.

Get more information here.

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) Recognition process is the examination of the quality, effectiveness, and ability of accrediting organizations to accredit degree-granting higher education institutions and/or the programs that these institutions offer. Accreditation using nationally and professionally approved rigorous academic standards confirms quality assurance and commitment to quality improvement in higher education. Accreditation is a thoughtful initiative that began with the higher education community. Today, just as in 1996 at CHEA’s inception following a referendum of college and university presidents, the higher education community believes that it is capable of monitoring and judgment through peer review to determine academic quality and quality improvement.

While the U. S. Department of Education (USDE) provides recognition to accrediting organizations, it does not fulfill the same role as CHEA. Integral to CHEA’s philosophy is the principle that academic quality should be determined primarily by the academic community, not by the government. USDE recognizes only those institutional, professional, and specialized accrediting agencies that serve as gatekeepers for federal funds. CHEA recognizes accrediting organizations regardless of their federal financial gatekeeping role and only recognizes those who meet CHEA’s rigorous standards specific to academic integrity, student success, and accountability to the public. To read more about CHEA recognition, click here.

Even if you did not attend the virtual ACCREDITCON, you can still register to access all on-demand sessions now through December 31.

Registration is $350 via PayPal or check.

Plus, you can earn up to 15 CEs for these on-demand sessions.

(Guests who registered to attend the live stream can access the sessions by using the same login as for the live stream. Email jennifer@coaemsp.org if you have misplaced your login.)

Rob Dowling, 52, died September 13, of complications from COVID-19.

For the past eleven years, Rob had been the Program Director of the Paramedic Program sponsored by Franciscan Health Crown Point (Indiana).

According to an article in the Northwest Indiana Times, Rob was a "passionate teacher with real-world experience who left a lasting impact on a generation of emergency responders in the Region."

The CoAEMSP is saddened by this loss and extends its sympathies to Rob's family.

The entire story can be found here.

The CoAEMSP continues to monitor the fluid COVID impact on Paramedic education. Currently there is no active conversation about extending the simulation and alternative evaluation methods statement beyond December 31, 2021; however, the staff and executive committee are actively monitoring the situation.

The CoAEMSP reaffirms its support that Paramedic educational programs may employ a broader array of approaches, including simulation, in determining competency in didactic, laboratory, clinical, field experience, and capstone field internship.

Any cohort of students that begin their program before December 31, 2021, will fall under the current waiver.

All webinars are recorded and accessible here.

View the list of upcoming webinars here.

Read highlights from the most recent Board of Directors Meeting here.

For a current list of CoAEMSP LoR and CAAHEP Accredited programs, visit www.caahep.org.