Continuing Education for EMS Certified Personnel

CE or not?

EMS rules have made CE accrual one of the options for renewal, NOT a requirement for maintaining your certification. If you choose to renew your certificate by completing CE hours, the hours you gain must be DSHS-approved and meet minimum content areas.

CE hours can be completed anytime during your four-year certification period. We recommend your CE accrual be consistent with your employer QI/QA plan.

Reporting CE hours

Submitting your two-year CE report is NO LONGER a requirement for maintaining your certification, and you are not required to submit a CE report form for recertification purposes. Renewing your four-year certification requires that you submit a recertification/relicensing application and fee.

Where and how?

EMS rules allow you several methods to accrue CE hours. All methods must have prior DSHS approval.

• Ongoing CE offerings provided by department-approved programs. Contact your local DSHS field office for area courses and clinical instruction information.
• National/standardized training courses. See CE breakdown chart.
• Independent study. CE articles in professional journals, interactive computer programs.
• Authorship. Development and publication of a manuscript in a periodical.
• Academic courses.
• Instruction of approved initial training and CE courses can be counted as CE accrual. For more information, see our Rules/Policies page.
• Policy *-A: CE approved by other accrediting agencies

CE programs are approved and monitored by staff in EMS field offices located throughout the state. If you have questions about CE providers in your area, contact your local DSHS field office.

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More on Continuing Education
Read §157.38 Continuing Education
DSHS Audiovisual Lending Library – EMS Health Media Mini-Catalog (PDF,
Viewing Information) Read (284K PDF, )