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Officials within the US Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged today that effective January 1st, 2015 all governance and control of Emergency Medical Services will be relegated to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), specifically the Advanced Nursing Education Expansion (ANEE) program.
Until now, Federal oversight of EMS has been the jurisdiction of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Officials within the NHTSA report that under reforms signed into law with President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, EMS will come under the direct control and regulation of the Nursing profession.
The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) will be absorbed by the American Nurses Association (ANA). EMS will become a subspecialty of Nursing, subject to State and Federal Nursing Practices, said ANA representative Kitty Forman.
While the titles of Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Paramedic will continue to exist for a 10 year grace period, the duties and practice of the EMT will be considered equivalent to that of Certified Nurse’s Assistant (CNA) and those of the paramedic will become equivalent to a Licensed Professional Nurse (LPN), and all current providers at those levels must obtain credentialing as a CNA and LPN. The CNA-EMT and LPN-P will work under the direct supervision and authority of a Registered Nurse (RN).
The ANEE will develop a bridge program which will allow current Paramedics to become Registered Nurses, with the subspecialty of Pre Hospital RN (PH-RN). Current RN’s will have the option of becoming credentialed as a PH-RN with a 24 hour online CME program, stated Nurse Forman. “By placing EMS under the direction of Nursing, we will bring a level of professionalism and competence to a field that has been severely lacking in both since its inception” she stated. “EMS should never have been allowed to operate without Nursing oversight. We are excited to finally correct this glaring deficiency” Nurse Forman went on to add.
Upon completion of this transition, officials state that any current EMS providers at any level will lose their certification if they have not met credentialing at the CNA, LPN or RN levels. “Get with the program, or get out” stated ANEE Associate Director Alyssa Ogawa, RN. “Pre-hospital medicine requires professional providers. And those professionals are nurses”.
