We are pleased to release the 2018-2019 CoAEMSP Annual Report.

This document is published yearly, providing the public with an overview of the CoAEMSP’s activities for the previous fiscal year.

Read the Annual Report here.

The CoAEMSP office will be closed on Friday, July 3 in observance of the 4th of July.

May you and your loved ones enjoy a safe holiday!

The CoAEMSP Board of Directors met via web meeting on May 1, 2020. The Board reviewed 50 programs for initial accreditation, continuing accreditation, and progress reports.

Additionally, the Board approved a revised policy on complaints about accredited programs, and a new policy to allow for public comment on proposed Interpretations to the CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in the Emergency Medical Services Professions.

These highlights are shared directly with each of the sponsors’ CEOs following the 30-day moratorium after a Board meeting, as well as posted here for review by anyone with a role, including students, graduates, faculty, Paramedic educational program sponsors, administration, hospital/clinic representatives, employers, police and/or fire services.

Highlights from the most recent Board of Directors can be found on this page.

CoAEMSP Policies and Procedures for Programs can be found on this page.

At the CoAEMSP Board of Directors meeting in May a new policy was approved that provides a path for public comment on proposed Interpretations to the CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in the Emergency Medical Services Professions. The purpose of the CoAEMSP Interpretations is to provide programs additional direction on expectations of how the program can meet the CAAHEP Standards and evidence that satisfies specific requirements. The interpretations are not part of the CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines document.

The Interpretations Committee typically meets twice a year prior to the Board meetings and may develop draft language for a new interpretation as needed or requested which is then reviewed and approved by the Board and will proceed to public comment as appropriate.

The new public comment period is in addition to the usual opportunities for programs to provide input to CoAEMSP staff at workshops, conferences, and other routine communication through phone and email contact. In the new process, the CoAEMSP provides a specific forum for input from the various stakeholder groups.

The process is as follows:

The public comment opportunity for Interpretations is in addition to the extensive comment period that occurs when the CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines are revised and provides an additional path for stakeholder input.

Prior to this Policy revision, two options existed for CAAHEP accredited programs to request approval of an individual to fill the role of the Program Director on a transient basis until a permanent replaced was identified. These designations were ‘Temporary’ and ‘Acting’. The difference related to whether the individual possessed a Bachelor’s degree and the associated length of time allowed to serve in the position.

The two options have been replaced with a single ‘Interim’ designation, and as per previous policy, is only available to CAAHEP accredited programs. CoAEMSP recognizes that Program Director changes occur, and the Interim appointment allows for designation of an individual who does not possess the otherwise required Bachelor’s degree but meets all other requirements in the Standard and is time limited.

Pertinent points from the Policy include:

Programs that need to fill the role of the Program Director on a transient basis were not always clear on which option to request and the change to only one Interim designation simplifies the process.

Becoming a new Paramedic Program Director results in an admittedly steep learning curve with many details to master, often in a relatively short period of time. After considerable discussion and review of the challenges presented to new Program Directors, the following policy has been approved.

“When a sponsor appoints a new permanent Program Director the individual is considered to be provisionally approved until all requirements have been met including verified previous attendance at a CAAHEP Accreditation Workshop presented by CoAEMSP or attendance at the Accreditation Workshop within the 15 months following appointment of the Program Director by the sponsor institution.”

If the newly appointed Program Director has experience with another Paramedic Program and has attended the CAAHEP Accreditation Workshop in the past, CoAEMSP will be able to verify attendance and the individual will not be required to attend a second workshop.

Participation in an accreditation workshop is a common requirement by many accreditors. In fact, some require attendance by at least one individual affiliated with the program prior to each accreditation cycle. The CoAEMSP Board has elected to require a one-time participation approach with the goal of assisting programs to successfully navigate the self-study and site visit process.

Earlier this month the CoAEMSP presented a webinar hosted by the National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE). Programs are required to evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of their resources. This webinar identifies resources an EMS program must assess and tools to support the program’s assessment. The webinar dived deeper into what it means to assess resources, what tools to use, and how often a program should assess its resources.

Access the webinar and supporting slides here.

Contact: [email protected]

The CoAEMSP has extended the deadline for Annual Reports to June 30, 2020 because the health and safety of our volunteers, educators, and students is our top priority.

If you are a program director of a CoAEMSP Letter of Review or CAAHEP accredited Paramedic Program, then you received in January the Excel-based Annual Report form from the email [email protected]. If you did not receive this email, first check your junk and spam folders. If the email is still not there, then email [email protected] and let us know! Annual Reports are due no later than June 30.

The Annual Report is based on the 2018 calendar year and its graduates, and will be due June 30, 2020. This allows the program at minimum one (1) year to gather all relevant data and allows sufficient time to send out and gather results for the Graduate and Employer Surveys for the applicable annual report year.

Paramedic educational programs are required to submit an annual report that encompasses the following three (3) key metrics:

1. Retention

2. Positive Placement

3. Success on the credentialing written (cognitive) exam.

All CAAHEP accredited and CoAEMSP Letter of Review (LoR) programs will be required to complete the Annual Report and publish the outcomes from their annual report on their website. Outcomes will be for the year reported (and no longer based on a 3-year average).

As the CoAEMSP continues to strive to become more outcomes-oriented in its approach to EMS education, the evaluation of identified outcomes measures becomes increasingly important.

When reports are not submitted on time, additional work is incurred by staff – work that can be prevented. Remember, submit on or before June 30!

Contact: Heather Parker, [email protected] , 214-703-8445, x116

On May 5, all program directors for the CoAEMSP Letter of Review Programs and the CAAHEP Accredited Programs, along with each of the 14 sponsors of CoAEMSP, received their annual fee invoices from the email address: [email protected].

You are encouraged to pay the annual fee by ACH or the View and Pay Invoice option in the email. (Credit cards are not accepted.)

The fee is due July 1, 2020. If you have questions about the invoice or other accounting related items, please contact Heather Parker ( [email protected], 214-703-8445, x116).

DON'T FALL PREY TO SCAM INVOICES!

The CoAEMSP sends all invoices in the form of an attachment, NOT a link, and you will never be asked for sensitive information! The CoAEMSP has been alerted that scam invoices have been received with the address of coaemsp.org. These emails request that you follow a link to make your payment. Do not click on a link to make a payment!

The CoAEMSP will never ask for sensitive information; all invoices will be in the form of attachments, NOT hyperlinks. If you receive suspicious looking email, contact the CoAEMSP directly (do NOT click on a link in any suspicious email) and we can advise you whether or not the email is legitimate.

Contact: Heather Parker, [email protected] or 214-703-8445, x116

In an effort to save time, streamline processes, reduce data entry, and eliminate additional processing fees, the CoAEMSP is encouraging all programs to pay invoices via Automated Clearing House (ACH).

ACH payments are electronic payments that transfer funds directly from a checking account to the payee. Instead of writing out and mailing a paper check, the money moves automatically.

You may pay invoices by ACH or the View and Pay Invoice option that will appear in the email with the invoice. Credit cards are not accepted. The CoAEMSP will accept checks; however, know that we are moving toward requiring all payments to be made via ACH or View and Pay.

All programs selecting to pay by ACH should email a payment advice to [email protected]. (A payment advice provides the details on a payment and provides advance notice to the recipient.)

The advantages of paying via ACH or the View and Pay Invoice are:

•  pay directly through the invoice

•  secure environment

•  payment processes in 3 days instead of 3 weeks (checks)

•  automatically applies to the invoice (less data entry errors)

Below is an example of the ACH Payment Advice, which provides the details on a payment and provides advance notice to the recipient.

Thank you for helping to make the payment process more efficient.

Effective immediately, the Program Director will serve as the Billing Contact for the program. The program is no longer required to submit a personnel contact form for the Billing Contact.

David Pearse, EdD, LP, program director of the Paramedic program sponsored by Life EMS Academy/El Paso ESD 2 Consortium, El Paso, Texas, was conferred the Doctor of Education degree from Gwynedd Mercy University on May 9, 2020.

Christine Turner, MEd, NRP, program director of the Paramedic program sponsored by Carteret Community College, Morehead City, North Carolina, was conferred the Master of Education degree from Liberty University on May 8, 2020.

The CoAEMSP applauds you for achieving these outstanding academic accomplishments!

For a current list of LoR and accredited programs, visit www.caahep.org.