Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

A GEMR certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) provides out of hospital emergency medical care and transportation for patients who access the emergency medical services (EMS) system. EMTs have the basic knowledge and skills necessary to provide basic level care and safely transport patients ranging from non-emergency and routine medical transports to life threatening emergencies.

Emergency Medical Technicians function as part of a comprehensive EMS response system, under medical oversight and typically with advanced level care resources. Emergency Medical Technicians perform basic interventions with basic equipment typically found on a basic life support ambulance or in a basic life support response kit. Emergency Medical Technicians are a critical link between the scene of an emergency and the health care system.

The duties of a GEMR certified EMT include:
An Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) may, under the direction of a Physician Medical Director, may:

  1. Perform all procedures that an Emergency Medical Responder may perform.
  2. Ventilate with a non-invasive positive pressure delivery device.
  3. Insert an uncuffed pharyngeal airway device in the practice of airway maintenance.
    1. An uncuffed pharyngeal airway device is: A single lumen airway device designed for blind insertion into the esophagus providing airway protection where the device prevents gastric contents from entering the trachea space, but has no inflatable cuff.
  4. Perform tracheobronchial tube suctioning on the endotracheal intubated patient.
  5. Obtain a capillary blood specimen for blood glucose monitoring.
  6. Prepare and administer epinephrine by automatic injection device or via intramuscular injection for anaphylaxis.
  7. Prepare and administer nebulized bronchodilator agents for known asthmatic and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients suffering from suspected bronchospasm.
  8. Perform cardiac defibrillation with an automatic or semi-automatic defibrillator.
  9. Transport stable patients with saline locks, urinary catheters, or in-dwelling vascular devices.
  10. Assist the on-scene Advanced EMT, Paramedic, or Advanced Practice Paramedic by:
    1. Assembling and priming IV fluid administration sets; and
    2. Opening, assembling and uncapping preloaded medication syringes and vials.
    3. Prepare other ALS equipment for use by the AEMT, Paramedic, or Advanced Practice Paramedic.
  11. Perform other emergency tasks as requested if under the direct visual supervision of a physician and then only under the order of that physician.
  12. Complete a clear and accurate prehospital emergency care report form on all patient contacts.
  13. Prepare and administer the following medications under specific written protocols authorized by the Medical Director or direct orders from a licensed consultant physician:
  14. Analgesic: Acetaminophen PO, Aspirin PO, Ibuprofen PO, Methoxyflurane INH.
  15. Anti-inflammatory: Aspirin PO, Ibuprofen PO.
  16. Anaphylaxis: Epinephrine IM.
  17. Antidotes: Naloxone hydrochloride IN and IM.
  18. Antihypoglycemics: Glucose gel PO and Glucagon IM.
  19. Antipyretics: Acetaminophen PO.
  20. Vasodilators: Nitroglycerine PO.
  21. Nebulized bronchodilators: As determined by Medical Director
  22. Non-opioid Oral or Inhaled Analgesics for acute pain as determined by Medical Director
  23. In the event of a declared Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) as defined in the local Mass Casualty Incident plan, monitor patients who have isotonic intravenous fluids flowing.

The Global Emergency Medical Registry (GEMR) is honored to serve this healthcare workforce with an international standard certification following education, competency evaluation, and testing.

The GEMR Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Certification is designed to provide industry, governments, regulators, and administrations with a third-party certification for this level of healthcare provider around the globe which is referenceable and can be checked via the gemr.org “Verify Certification or Endorsement” box on the GEMR Home Page.

EMT – Initial Candidate Information for Certification

Pre-Certification Educational Outcomes:

Upon completion of a program of education, the candidate will:

  1. Be a minimum of 16 years old.
  2. Be prepared for and eligible to take the GEMR Written Examination and skills process to obtain certification from The Global Emergency Medical Registry (GEMR).
  3. Be prepared to upload all EMT skills sheets with physician or instructor signature, indicating compliance to the standard during examination of that skill.
  4. Have completed a program of education, which the program attests to meeting the objectives and requirements outlined for the certification level and be prepared to upload all educational records to GEMR.
  5. Have a current Healthcare Provider level CPR certification, which meets all International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) standards and upload the certification to GEMR.

Educational Program Expectations:

Educational programs, to meet the GEMR objectives, must have a minimum of the following hours of education in the educational program the candidate attended:

Didactic: 75 hours
Practical/Skills: 75 hours
Internship: 48 hours under the supervision of a certified EMT (or higher-level certification) and/or Physician in a clinical setting, with daily observation reports done at the end of each workday; a minimum of 12 hours must be on an emergency medical services ambulance.

Minimum Educational and Examination Objectives:

The Global Emergency Medical Registry (GEMR) establishes minimum standard educational objectives for the registry levels. The following are the current minimum educational objectives for an initial Emergency Medical Technician education program, the registry written examinations and psychomotor examinations are created from these objectives.

Click here for the PDF of the 2025 objectives

Responsibilities of Registry Certified Personnel:

Certified personnel must notify the Registry within 30 days regarding the following matters:

  1. Change in mailing address (the best way to update a mailing address is by editing your account profile)
  2. Any criminal conviction.
  3. Disciplinary action taken by any agency having jurisdiction (or government body) that has resulted in suspension, revocation, or expiration of registration/licensure; termination of right to practice; voluntary surrender of registration/licensure while under investigation.

The Registry considers the individual to be solely responsible for their certification and reporting, any failure to follow process or report as required is solely the failure of the certified person and may result in immediate dismissal of their certification, as well as, immediate notification to any pertinent regulatory agency of their dismissal.

Disciplinary Policy and Rights of Appeal for The Registry can be found on The Registry website.

GEMR Required Skills Attestation for Initial Certification:

All initial Certification Candidates must upload the following skills sheet documentation forms (located at https://www.gemr.org/library/), signed by the medical director or Course Director, to their transcript page of their profile by creating a “Skills Documentation” course in their transcript and uploading all the following:

  1. Assists with Use of Bedpan
  2. Bag Valve Mask Ventilation
  3. Bleeding Control (BLS)
  4. Bleeding Control Combat Application Tourniquet
  5. Blood Glucose Assessment
  6. Cardiac Arrest AED (BLS)
  7. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
  8. ECG Limb and 12 Lead Acquisition
  9. Hand Washing
  10. Measures and Records Urinary Output (bedpan or urinal)
  11. Medication by Auto Injector
  12. Medication by Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Injection Routes
  13. Medication by Intranasal Route
  14. Medication by Nebulization Route
  15. Medication by Oral Chewable Route
  16. Medication by Oral Gel Route
  17. Medication by Oral Route
  18. Medication by Rectal Route
  19. Nasal Pharyngeal Airway
  20. Obtaining Carotid Pulse
  21. Obtaining Manual Blood Pressure
  22. Obtaining Radial Pulse
  23. Obtaining Respiratory Rate
  24. Oral Pharyngeal Airway
  25. PPE Donning and Removing Gloves and Gown
  26. Physical Exam (Adult)
  27. Physical Exam (Pediatric)
  28. Quantitative Waveform Capnography
  29. Spinal Immobilization (Seated Patient)
  30. Spinal Immobilization (Supine Patient)
  31. Spinal Immobilization BLS Case (IMMO Protocol for Spinal Injury #2)
  32. Supraglottic Airway Respiratory Arrest

GEMR Written Examination:

At the conclusion of initial training, the candidate must complete their profile on gemr.org, upload all skills sheets, CPR certification, certificate or diploma, and highest level of education completion certificate to their skills and transcript area of their profile.

The candidate will then receive an invitation to test for the GEMR Online Testing System, the candidate must score a minimum of 85% to show compliance with the standard and successfully complete the examination process.

Initial Certification Completion:

Once all the above steps have been completed, and the candidate has been audited and completed the GEMR Exam with a score of 85% or greater, the candidate will be able to complete their registration payment and receive their certification.

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) - Renewal Certification:

The GEMR Certification expires two years from the time of initial certification. During that two-year period, the certified individual must complete the following process to renew their certification.

GEMR Required Continuing Medical Education:

The certified individual must complete, document, and upload to their GEMR profile transcript the following continuing medical education (CME), prior to the end of their certification period. All CME must be from an accredited organization and the CME certificate must include the topic, the number of hours, the date, the instructor or course director, the name of the organization and contact information, as well as the CME certificate must bear the accreditation logo(s) and accreditation number for the educational program. A maximum of fifty percent (50%) of the CME may be done online.

The following 25 hours are the required CME for EMT Renewal:

1 hour Current Healthcare Professional CPR certification, including in person instructor led skills portion to ILCOR standards.
3 hours Airway, ventilation, capnography, and oxygenation.
6 hours Cardiovascular (Cardiac arrest, post cardiac arrest, ventricular assist devices, cerebrovascular accident, congestive heart failure, acute coronary syndromes).
6 hours Trauma (Trauma triage, hemorrhage, central nervous system, special needs, fluid resuscitation, blood administration, trauma assessment, chest trauma, orthopedic trauma).
7 hours Medical (Special healthcare needs, OB emergencies, Infectious disease, Pharmacology, Medication delivery, Pain management, Psychiatric and behavioral emergencies, Toxicological emergencies, Neurological emergencies, Endocrine emergencies, Immunological emergencies)
3 hours Operations (At risk populations, ambulance safety, casualty incidents, EMS safety, EMS hygiene, Vaccines, Culture of safety)

GEMR Required Skills Attestation:

The GEMR Certified EMT must complete their skills documentation on their profile page, and those skills must be attested to by a medical director or designee through their own GEMR profile, all the following skills competencies are required for renewal:

  1. Bag Valve Mask Ventilation
  2. Bleeding Control (BLS)
  3. Bleeding Control Combat Application Tourniquet
  4. Cardiac Arrest AED (BLS)
  5. ECG Limb and 12 Lead Acquisition
  6. Medication by Auto Injector
  7. Medication by Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Injection Routes
  8. Medication by Intranasal Route
  9. Medication by Nebulization Route
  10. Medication by Oral Chewable Route
  11. Medication by Oral Gel Route
  12. Medication by Oral Route
  13. Nasal Pharyngeal Airway
  14. Obtaining Carotid Pulse
  15. Obtaining Manual Blood Pressure
  16. Obtaining Radial Pulse
  17. Obtaining Respiratory Rate
  18. Oral Pharyngeal Airway
  19. Physical Exam (Adult)
  20. Physical Exam (Pediatric)
  21. Quantitative Waveform Capnography
  22. Spinal Immobilization BLS Case
  23. Supraglottic Airway Respiratory Arrest

GEMR Written Examination:

No written exam is required for renewal certification

Renewal Certification Completion:

Once all the above steps have been completed, and the candidate has been audited, the candidate will be able to complete their registration payment and receive their certification.

Reciprocity:

A person with one, or more, of the following, may apply for GEMR EMT certification through reciprocity:

  1. The candidate who holds a current certification with the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT), at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their initial or CME training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  2. The candidate who holds a current license with a Province of Canada, at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their initial or CME training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  3. The candidate who holds a current license with a Freely Associated State of the United States, at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their initial or CME training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  4. The candidate who holds a current license with a State in the United States, at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their initial or CME training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  5. The candidate who holds a current registration with the Paramedicine Board of Australia (PBA), at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their initial or CME training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  6. The candidate who holds a current certification with the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC), at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their documented training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  7. The candidate who holds a current certification with the Health & Care Professionals Council (HCPC), at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their documented training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  8. The candidate who holds a current certification with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their documented training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  9. The candidate who holds a current position with the National Fire Agency of Korea (NFA) and has completed the national examination process, at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their documented training meets the scope of practice listed above.
  10. The candidate who holds a federal or state qualification in Germany (Rettungssanitäter, Notfallsanitäter/Notfallsanitäterin), at this level or higher, may apply for reciprocity at this level, if their documented training meets the scope of practice listed above.

In addition to the above, the candidate must show they have met all requirements for Certification Renewal at the time of application; if they are unable to do so, they must follow the initial application for certification process.