Arthur Hsieh

This Cheat Sheet is a quick summary of facts you should know about becoming a certified emergency medical technician (EMT), including certification steps, computer adaptive testing, and exam preparation.Getting and maintaining an EMT certificationThe requirements for becoming a certified emergency medical technician (EMT) vary from state to state.

You will need to know when it is necessary to oxygenate for the EMT exam. EMTs used to give oxygen to everyone, regardless of what the complaint was. Chest pain? Give oxygen. Toe pain? Yep, give that gas too! Medical experts have since discovered that inhaling more oxygen than necessary can be harmful for certain conditions, and it isn’t helpful in situations where it isn’t necessary.

On the NREMT exam, you should make efforts to eliminate answer choices to narrow down your options. If you end up having to select between two options, try these tips: Reread the stem once more just to make sure that you didn’t miss any subtle clues. Sometimes the best answer is the longest one or the one that has the most specificity.

Working completely alone as an EMT is extremely rare. Even in those circumstances, you’ll likely be interacting with other healthcare and public safety providers at some point during a call. More likely, you’ll be functioning as a member of a team. It may be a single partner, a fire engine crew, or even an emergency department staff — regardless of the size, everyone has a role to play.

If you haven’t been to a classroom in a while, the prospect of formal learning may intimidate you. Don’t worry — EMT education is very interactive and interesting, and it’ll be what you make of it. Be prepared to have fun and be challenged! On one hand, you get to discover how to do things such as administer oxygen, immobilize patients using long backboards, perform CPR, operate an automated external defibrillator (AED), and manage chaotic emergency scenes.

The requirements for becoming a certified emergency medical technician (EMT) vary from state to state. However, several steps are common to the EMT certification process. They include the following steps: Enroll in an EMT course. Search on the web or go to your local emergency medical services (EMS) or fire station to find out where reputable EMT training programs are offered.

The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) began using computer adaptive testing (CAT) in January 2007. Prior to then, NREMT exams were paper based; an NREMT representative had to administer the test to a group of candidates. Answers were recorded by test-takers onto Scantron forms, which were collected by the NREMT representative and mailed to the NREMT.

One responsibility that you have as an emergency medical technician (EMT) is to document your assessment and management of the patient. Such documentation can take time to complete if you write out everything that you found and performed. Medical abbreviations can help speed up the process. You can use literally dozens of abbreviations; here are ten (or so) that are commonly used when documenting your assessment and care, plus a few symbols that you can use as shorthand for common words.

Don't take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) exam lightly. Prepare for the cognitive (computerized) portion of the emergency medical technician (EMT) exam by taking the following actions: Create a study schedule and follow it. Study in a place that promotes learning and retention.