Emergency Medical Services, AAS (3325)

CIP: 510904

Program Description

This program prepares students to safely provide out-of-hospital emergency medical care, as an entry level Paramedic. Students are taught all aspects of advanced life support in the EMS setting, including but not limited to: advanced airway adjuncts and management, emergency cardiology, traumatic life support, newborn and pediatric advanced life support, and many other lifesaving skills.  The goal of this program is to prepare competent entry-level Paramedics in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains with or without exit points at the Advanced Emergency Medical Technician level. 

The Advanced Life Support (ALS) training begins in the Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) courses.  After successful completion of the AEMT training, students will be eligible for the AEMT National Registry exam.  The AEMT National Registry is not required to progress in the program, but it is an option for those students who wish to pursue AEMT certification during the course of the paramedic program. Students who successfully complete both AEMT and Paramedic training components will be eligible to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians Paramedic exam.  The AEMT to Paramedic Bridge Program is developed in alignment with the EMT-Paramedic: National EMS Scope of Practice and the National Education EMS Standards, using the same education standard that is required for traditional Paramedic Programs. 

A valid National Registry and WV EMTB card must be possessed prior to entry into the AEMT and Paramedic courses and maintained throughout the entire program. 

Those students who wish to practice in West Virginia as AEMTs, will have to complete the West Virginia Expanded Scope of Practice. Those specific courses will be applied towards your remaining Paramedic course requirements. Students will have to successfully pass the West Virginia AEMT state exam in order to gain West Virginia AEMT certification. Students who successfully complete both AEMT and Paramedic Bridge components, will be eligible to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians Paramedic exam. 

Program Learning Outcomes

• Integrate the complex knowledge and skills necessary to provide advanced level patient care, scene management and transportation as part of an emergency medical services system.
• Perform a patient assessment, develop and implement a pre-hospital treatment plan as the Paramedic team leader for patients with a variety of medical and traumatic emergencies.
• Provide advanced emergency medical care for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical services system.
• Demonstrate technical proficiency in all of the skills identified for the role of an entry-level Paramedic
• Exhibit appropriate skills of interpersonal communication with patients, receiving facility, and other members of the health services team.
• Provide accurate, timely, complete and consistent documentation of each patient encounter.
• Demonstrate cultural competency, respect for diversity and the ability to practice in diverse healthcare settings in a multicultural society.
• Demonstrate personal behavior consistent with professional and employer expectations for an entry-level Paramedic.
• Analyze best practices in professional leadership decision making for advancements in EMS.     

Program Assessment

Program evaluation demonstrates that students and graduates have achieved the student learning outcomes, program outcomes, and role-specific competencies. To ensure accreditation standards are met, the program has a Plan of Program Evaluation in place that is shared with communities of interest. Specifically, the PPE evaluates performance on the exam, program completion, graduate program satisfaction, employer program satisfaction, and job placement rates.