CoAEMSP News | December 2025

George Hatch and Stephen Perdziola

CoAEMSP and NAEMSE Executive Directors Reflect on Their Work Together

George Hatch and Stephen Perdziola, executive director of NAEMSE, have worked together for what they would certainly call “a long time.” The two men – and the two organizations – have a shared a passion for promoting educational excellence among EMS educators.

As Stephen prepares to retire from NAEMSE, they gathered to reflect on their work together, the many advancements in the field of EMS education, and the important work ahead. This wide-ranging conversation between two good friends is not to be missed.

Watch their conversation here.

Watch the webinar CoAEMSP and NAEMSE collaborated on, Why Not You: Breaking into the Director Role.

Join Us Friday at 2 PM Central for the Town Hall!

CoAEMSP Surveys OEMS Leadership 

In August 2025, CoAEMSP surveyed State Office of EMS Officials regarding CAAHEP accreditation, and 51 officials from 36 states and U.S. territories responded. While the data are not generalizable given the response rate, we believe they provide a useful snapshot.  

Office of EMS Officials View Accreditation Very Favorably 

Nearly all (98%) of respondents who have been part of the CAAHEP accreditation process agreed it is valuable for EMS education programs in their state, including 51% who said it was extremely valuable and 26% said it was very valuable.  

Most valuable parts of the CAAHEP accreditation process:*  

• Ensures the program meets/exceeds national standards (80%) 
• Quality improvement (57%) 
• 3rd party review of programming (50%) 

Most challenging parts of the CAAHEP accreditation process:* 

• Costly (57%) 
• Time-consuming (50%) 
• Ability to adequately measure program performance (32%) 

Factors positively influencing the certification exam pass rates:* 

• Effective and experienced instructors (50% and 42% respectively) 
• Program assessment strategies, i.e., evaluation of curriculum, program outcomes, instructor performance, etc. (50%)  
• In-person skills and scenario training (35%) 

Full survey results are available at https://coaemsp.org/research.   

Understanding Program Attrition

The Influence of Entry Requirements and Student Resources

Presented as an oral presentation at the 2025 National Association of EMS Physicians

Annual Meeting, San Diego, California, January 9, 2025.

Read the paper in its entirety here.

Objectives: Paramedic educational program attrition contributes to a loss of potential clinicians from the emergency medical services (EMS) workforce. Programs have developed entry requirements and resources to enhance retention, although their impact is unclear. Our objective is to evaluate program entry requirements and resources and their association with high educational program attrition.

The results:

• We included 629 programs.
• The median attrition rate was 20%, with 148 programs (23.5%) reporting high attrition.
• Programs with high attrition were more likely to have open enrollment policies.
• In contrast, low-attrition programs more frequently required preadmission interviews, medical knowledge exams, and medical prescreens, and offered daycare.

The CoAEMSP Board met November 6-7, 2025. Read the highlights from the board meeting here.

Information Worth Repeating

Summary Evaluation: The Process is Evolving

EMS Physician Medical Direction of EMS Education Programs

Dr. James Atkins Named First-Ever Director Emeritus of CoAEMSP

View the list of CoAEMSP-Letter of Review and CAAHEP-accredited programs.