EMT Exams in Kentucky

In order to successfully pass EMT exams in Kentucky, a candidate is required to take the program first. After completing the program, Emergency Medical Technicians need to pass the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician (NREMT) examination. NREMT is a non-profit organization, which provides certification to EMT candidates of all the states in the U.S.

Components of EMT Exams

NREMT exam consists of cognitive (written) and psychomotor (practical) exams. For obtaining EMT certificate, it is obligatory to pass both parts of the test.

Cognitive Exams

The cognitive part of the NREMT exam is a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). The candidate is required to answer 70-120 questions in time duration of two hours. The subject areas, which are included in the test, are- ventilation, airway management, cardiology, trauma, oxygenation, medical, as well as EMS operations.

Psychomotor Exams

The Psychomotor exam tests the practical skills of a student in subjects, such as cardiac management skills, oral station, patient assessment- trauma, ventilatory management, pediatric skills, IV and medication skills, as well as random basic skills.

Examination Registration and Scheduling Procedure

If a candidate passes the eligibility criteria to appear for the EMT tests, he/she receives an eligibility postcard along with instructions for the registration, fee payment and scheduling of the examination.

An EMT aspirant must keep in mind the following two points:

The applicants are supposed to qualify the written examination within the period of 6 months since they get authorization to appear for the examination.
If the candidate fails to clear the examination, he/she can reappear in two more attempts within the authorization period of 6 months.

The candidate must make the payment while doing the registration. You must ensure that the registration form is accurately filled and signed, and check or money order of the requisite amount is attached with it.

Internet Registration & Scheduling

One of the fastest and the most convenient ways of exam scheduling is through the internet. Candidates must possess a valid MasterCard or VISA in order to do the registration over internet. They can do the online registration through www.psiexams.com. You can schedule your exam over the internet any time in a day as the services remain available for 24 hours per day. The candidate must complete the following steps in order to do registration through internet:

Log into the PSI’s website, and select the link related to the Kentucky examinations. Fill the online registration form and submit your details to PSI through internet.
After completing the online registration form, available dates and location for the examination will be provided to you. You can schedule your examination by selecting the date and location that suits your requirements.

Telephone Registration & Scheduling

The second best and fastest way of scheduling the test is the telephone. You can register via live registrars during business hours. Registration can also be done in non-business hours by using Interactive Voice Response System (IVR). For telephonic registration, candidates are required to obtain a valid VISA or Master Card. Fill the exam registration form via telephone by providing your credit card number and its expiry date.

Fax Registration & Scheduling

In order to do the fax registration, you must have a valid VISA or MasterCard. Complete the registration form by filling your credit card details and fax the completely filled form. If the details provided by you are incomplete or incorrect, the form will be returned back to you for required amendments.

Registration & Scheduling via Standard Mail

If you are not willing to disclose your credit card details over the internet or phone, you can opt to register and pay your fees via money orders or cashier’s check. For registering through standard mail, you first need to fill the form and then submit it along with the requisite fees to PSI. It takes 2 weeks to register this way. Once registered, you can call PSI to schedule your exam.

Missed Appointment or Late Cancellation

Your registration will be considered as invalid, or you will not be able to appear for the examination, and you will lose your examination fee (it will not be refunded) in the following cases, if:

You do not cancel your test two days before the scheduled date of examination.
You arrive after the examination has begun.
You fail to appear for the appointment of your examination.
If you fail to show valid identification proof at the examination center.

Rescheduling the Exam

If the candidates want to reschedule their examination, they can do so, but only after a gap of 1 day, i.e., after the day on which they appeared before. Due to the processing reasons, it is not possible to reschedule the same day on which you appeared for the examination. If the candidate wants to register again, he/she need to follow the same registration steps again, which were used earlier. You can re-register yourself on the internet, telephone or even through mail. Once the re-registration is completed, the candidate can reschedule the examination.

Report to the Examination Center

The candidate must arrive at least 30 minutes before the beginning of the examination. This will give time to the candidate for signing in, as well as identification process. If you arrive earlier (i.e. 30 minutes prior), then you get enough time to understand the examination process. On the other hand, if you arrive late at the examination center, you will not be granted admission, as well as the examination registration fee will also not be refunded.

Following identification proofs must be provided by the candidate at the examination site:

All the candidates are required to provide 2 identification proofs. One of them must be issued by the government and must contain the candidate’s signature along with the photograph. It can be a passport, driving license, state ID, or military ID. The second identification proof must bear the candidate’s signature and a pre-printed name.
EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic candidates should provide their current EMT certification card at the examination site.

Note: If they don’t possess a current certification card, they can provide a reinstatement letter from OEMS.

Exam Results

After the candidate has appeared in the examination, he/she will receive the feedback about their performance by NREMT. If the applicant is unsuccessful in clearing the examination, he/she can apply for the re-test only after 15 days since the last test.

In total, a candidate is provided six attempts to clear the examination after completing all the pre-requisites of National EMS Certification. After 3 attempts, the candidate is required to provide official documents, which must verify the candidate’s completion of 24 hours of remedial program. After this, the candidate will get 3 more attempts to clear the examination. But, if the candidate even fails to clear all six attempts, he/she will be required to complete the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program again.

Tips for Preparing for Exams

A lot of study guides are available in the market. You are required to pick the best ones and take reference from them.
Practice makes a man perfect, so keep practicing various EMT sample papers and workbooks through which, you will not only be able to self-assess yourself, but it will also prove beneficial in teaching you time-management during the exam.
Write notes while you are studying. It will help you to remember the important points.
As soon as you get the question paper, answer the easier questions first rather than holding on to the difficult ones for a long time.
Be confident and in a positive attitude while you appear for the test.