How Do Emts Get Continuing Education Hours

Continuing Education for EMS Licensure

Licensed providers in Oregon are required to complete a specified amount of continuing education (CE) hours each renewal cycle. This page serves as a resource to answer questions surrounding the requirements, documentation and where to find sources.

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General Information

EMR licenses expire on June 30th of every even year.

EMT, AEMT, EMT-Intermediate and Paramedic licenses expire on June 30th of every odd year.

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07/1/2021 - NEW VERSION of Appendix 1

Starting on July 1, 2021, the revised continuing education requirements specified in Appendix 1 will be required for all licensed EMS providers for the current and future licensure periods. The summary of changes include the following:

• One additional hour of pediatrics and obstetrics education for EMR level
  
• Removal of the category titled, "Education Topics Approved by the Medical Director" for all levels
  
• Increase in hours to the "Miscellaneous EMS Topics" category for all levels
  
• Addition of a new category titled, "Culture, Race, Gender and Ethnicity" for all levels
  

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Guidance Regarding the "Culture, Race, Gender and Ethnicity" Category

In 2019, the passage of Oregon House Bill 2021 and subsequent revisions to Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 676.850 and Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 943-090 mandates all health professional regulatory boards to include cultural competence as an additional requirement for continuing education.

According to Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 943-090-0010(3), cultural competence is defined as:

"A life-long process of examining values and beliefs and developing and applying an inclusive approach to health care practice in a manner that recognizes the context and complexities of provider-patient communication and interaction and preserves the dignity of individuals, families and communities."

OHA-EMS and Trauma Systems will accept continuing education that represents any or all subjects related to this definition. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Effective application of linguistic skills in cross-cultural communication
  
• Understanding of culture and ethnicity as a way to establish a positive therapeutic relationship
  
• Eliciting, understanding and applying cultural and ethnic data in the process of clinical care
  
• Unconscious and/or implicit bias; stigmas and/or discrimination as they relate to race, ethnicity, and/or gender identity
  
• Social determinants of health
  
• Disparities in health care unique to race, ethnicity, and/or gender identity
  
• Improving equity in medical care systems for diverse populations
  

The Oregon Health Authority lists a number of trainings that may be accessed here for a fee.

The OHA-EMS and Trauma Systems Program will also provide free education through the monthly webinar series relating to cultural competence and post previously recorded webinars relating to race, culture, gender and ethnicity to the new state learning management system in the following months (Workday Learning). Click the drop-down menu titled, "OHA-EMS & Trauma Webinar Series" on this page to sign up for this service.

Acceptable formats for obtaining this education are the same as all other categories of Appendix 1. For further details, click on the drop-down menu of this page titled, "Oregon Continuing Education Requirements".

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New Licensee Information

EMTs, AEMTs, Paramedics

The initial licensing process for EMTs, AEMTs and paramedics will result in two separate credentials: an NREMT certification and an Oregon license.

An Oregon license is required to practice. Maintaining an Oregon license requires completing continuing education. Oregon honors current NREMT certification holders by waiving some aspects of the continuing education requirements.

Please see the Renewal of an EMS License and NREMT in Oregon sections of this page for more information.

EMRs and EMT-Intermediates

The initial licensing process EMRs and EMT-Intermediates generates only one credential, which is an Oregon license. Providers must maintain their license by completing continuing education. Please see the Renewal of an EMS License section of this page for more information.

CE is prorated for EMRs and EMT-Intermediates  between initial licensure and the next renewal cycle. Please refer to Appendix 2for this proration.

Appendix 2 (pdf) - Minimum Continuing Education Requirements for EMR and EMT-Intermediate when Initial Licensure is less than 24 month.

Oregon Continuing Education Requirements

​EMS providers are required to either:

• Complete all continuing education hours specified in Appendix 1OR
• Hold a current NREMT license at the level they are renewing

In addition, EMS providers are required to:

• Maintain a current AHA Basic Life Support (BLS) Provider or equivalent CPR card
  

Affiliated providers (working or volunteering with an agency under a supervising physician) must complete Section 2 of Appendix 1, the Clinical Skills Competencies. If a provider is not affiliated, they can disregard Section 2.

There are many ways of obtaining CE during the two-year licensure cycle.

Hour for hour credit shall be granted for:

• Attending training seminars, educational conferences, and continuing education classes
• Attending a live, webinar, or interactive online course (you must be able to give, receive and discuss information in real time)
• Attend online continuing education that provides a certificate of completion and is approved by the CAPCE
• Attending an accredited college course relating to medical and EMS-related topics (must retain course syllabus- hour for credit hour granted)
• Teaching any topics listed in Appendix 1, if qualified to teach the subject

50% of the total hours needed in each category of Appendix 1 (i.e. an EMR may obtain 6 out of the 12 hours needed for renewal this way) may be obtained by:

• Self-study of medical journals, video or other media that is not CAPCE approved and is not facilitated by a live instructor. These must be approved by an agency training officer or EMS medical director
• Being a psychomotor skills examiner

OAR 333-265-0110
Continuing Education Requirements for License Renewal

Appendix 1 (pdf) - Minimum Continuing Education Requirements

Record Keeping

EMS providers are required to keep all continuing education records for two licensure cycles (four years). Please see the following rule for how to properly document continuing education records

OAR 333-265-0140
Maintaining Continuing Education Records

National Registry of EMTs (NREMT) and Oregon EMS

​NREMT CE requirements and renewal dates are different from Oregon EMS renewal dates. NREMT certifications expire on March 31^st of a given year. Oregon licenses for EMTs and above expire on June 30 of every odd year, regardless of the initial issue date. These licenses must be maintained separately.

If you choose to maintain both an NREMT certificate and an Oregon license, please be aware that the two entities have different CE requirements. NREMT established a National Continued Competency Program (NCCP), which includes three components: National (50%), Local (25%), and Individual (25%) content. The OHA EMS & Trauma Systems Program has not designated topics for the Local component of the NCCP. The hours for this category should be completed similarly to the Individual component of NCCP, where the certificate holder chooses the EMS hours to study.

NREMT Website

OHA EMS & Trauma Webinar Series

​A live, continuing education webinar is offered on the second Tuesday of each month, from 1200-1300. These webinars are free and focus on current, relevant education for EMS providers. Please click the link below to receive monthly invitations.

Subscribe to webinar series

Coming Soon - Workday Learning

Workday Learning is the new learning management system for the state of Oregon. Recorded OHA-EMS and Trauma System webinars will be available in the coming months. Instructions for establishing an account will be posted here when they become available.​​

Continuing Education Opportunities

​Free Continuing Education:

• Bound Tree University- free: CAPCE accredited courses for free. Self-paced recordings.
• https://www.boundtree.com/university
  

• EMS1 Academy
• https://www.ems1academy.com/
  

• PeaceHealth: PeaceHealth is offering monthly webinars and an EMR refresher course:
• https://emscoordinator.com/emr​
  
• https://emscoordinator.com/free-live-ce​
  
• Stop the Bleed
• Stop the Bleed Information
• EMS Resource Toolkit​

Oregon EMS C ​ onferences:

• Eastern Oregon EMS Conference: (virtual this year)
• https://easternoregonems.com/

• Newport EMS Conference: typically takes place in April (Newport, OR)
• https://newportems.com/index.html

• State of Jefferson EMS Conference: typically takes place in April (Medford, OR)
• https://www.facebook.com/SOJEMS/

• Timberline EMS Conference: typically takes place in April of every odd year (Mt. Hood, OR)
• https://www.eastclackamascountyems.org/

• Oregon EMS Conference: typically takes place in September (Salem or Bend, OR)
• https://www.oregonemsconference.com/
  
• 2022 Providence EMS, Stroke and Heart Conference: (February 18, 2022)
• ​Register Here​
  

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Source: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EMSTRAUMASYSTEMS/MOBILETRAININGUNIT/pages/index.aspx

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