Bureau of EMS Officials Pay Encouraging Visit to Main Campus
Published 12.07.2010
News
The Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, visited the Penn College campus and Paramedic Program on Monday. The Bureau of EMS recently established a statewide requirement that all paramedic training programs become nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions. This is an important step in EMS education, because only graduates of nationally accredited paramedic programs will be permitted to sit for national certification testing beginning Jan. 1, 2013.National certification testing is conducted by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.The Penn College Paramedic Program was the third in the United States to become nationally accredited more than 30 years ago. Joseph Schmider, the bureau's director, and John Englert, its education program manager, requested a visit to see campus and program resources available to students in the associate in Emergency Medical Services and certificate in Paramedic Technician majors. They commented often how impressed they were with the paramedic program's faculty/staff, laboratory and students' performance with national certification testing, which has established the program's reputation as a leader in paramedic education within Pennsylvania. Schmider and Englert provided the current paramedic class with words of encouragement and answered questions from the group during a meet-and-greet session.