Editor's Note: JEMS Editor-in-Chief recently visited with the EMS staff at Jersey City Medical Center and rode the streets of Jersey City with the crews to learn how they achieved triple certification for their service, training programs and dispatch operations. Look for his special feature story in December JEMS.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at Jersey City Medical Center has become the first EMS educational program in New Jersey to be accredited by the Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). The certification was granted for its EMT-Paramedic Program that is offered in collaboration with Hudson County Community College.
“With our CAAS (Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services) certification, this makes us among the few elite dually accredited EMS agencies in North America,” said Christopher Rinn, Executive Director, EMS, Jersey City Medical Center. “We’re very proud of this designation, which also lets our EMT and paramedic students know they are enrolled in a program with the very highest of professional standards.”
The Jersey City Medical Center EMT-Paramedic Program began in 2003 and this September started its eighth class with 22 students. In the history of the program, 49 students have completed the academic portion and the program has an extremely high success rate – 94% – on the National Registry of EMT Paramedic certification exam.
Accreditation standards are established by CAAHEP along with the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Ambulance Association, American College of Cardiology, American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Society of Anesthesiologists, International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, National Association of State EMS Officials, National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, National Association of EMS Physicians and National Association of EMS Educators.
CAAHEP is a programmatic postsecondary accrediting agency recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Programmatic (or specialized) accreditation examines specific schools or programs within an educational institution. The standards by which programs are measured have generally been developed by the professionals involved in each discipline and are intended to reflect what an entry level professional needs to know and be able to do to function successfully within that profession.