By Leila Merrill
COLUMBUS, Ohio 鈥� The 鈥� board of directors voted Wednesday to rescind its controversial resolution on expanding eligibility requirements after many EMS groups expressed their objections publicly.
Those organizations included the National Association of EMS Physicians, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the National EMS Management Association and the National Association of EMS Educators.
The resolution would have changed the eligibility criteria for all certification levels to include the successful completion of an EMS education program that meets or exceeds the National Emergency Medical Services Education Standards and has been awarded CAAHEP accreditation; has been issued a CoAEMSP 鈥渓etter of Review;鈥� or has received state EMS office approval.
issued Thursday and signed by Dr. Kevin Mackey, chair of the National Registry Board of Directors, states that NREMT 鈥渨ill continue conversation with national partners and key stakeholders to progress towards more inclusive solutions.鈥�
To that end, there will be a task force made up of representatives from 10 organizations intended to work 鈥渃ollaboratively, with transparency, and with the vested interest to our broader national EMS community, to further the conversation and explore solutions for the challenges facing our 鈥楨MS education systems.鈥欌��
The organization said it received more than 1,150 responses to 22-Resolution-13 during the comment period after announcing the resolution in June.
The responded to the reactions by saying:
鈥淲hile we regret the magnitude of the disruption from the draft resolution, we are confident that the nation鈥檚 EMS system has emerged with a collaborative and common purpose. We witnessed the passion behind the 鈥榮ystems approach鈥�, a concept forged years ago to unite all parts of our profession.鈥�