The office of EMS Clinician Services (OCS) coordinates Maryland EMS educational programs; provides and verifies educational opportunities for licensure and recertification of clinicians; develops and implements regulations to support clinician registration, renewal, and licensing; manages access to technology systems and learning management systems for EMS registration and education; supports constituents and partners statewide; manages and sells merchandise for Maryland EMS; and processes certifications and licensure. OCS coordinates a variety of services to protect the public and promote and facilitate the development of knowledgeable, skilled, and proficient prehospital professionals who deliver emergency care in the Maryland EMS system.
EMS Clinician Education
The Office of EMS Clinician Services (OCS) strives to improve clinician professional skills and abilities and ensure EMS clinicians have access to high-quality education and training opportunities and are optimally prepared to serve patients with the most up-to-date emergency medical services. OCS achieves this by assessing and implementing EMS curriculum being offered by the educational programs in Maryland; creating continuing educational courses on the Online Training Center to increase access to high-quality educational content; supporting students so they may achieve their goals; providing educational grant opportunities to assist educational programs in purchasing instructional materials for students’ initial and continuing educational needs; and managing an EMT Stipend that provided over 500 EMT students with financial vouchers at each milestone of their EMT course journey. This stipend offered up to $2,000 after completing the state exam and national registry exam.
For Clinicians Page
2023 EMS Clinician Data
The Office of EMS Clinician Services (OCS) had a steady workload in FY 2023, processing 8,328 applications, issuing 1,664 initial prehospital clinician certifications and licenses, and renewing 5,335 certifications and licenses. The vast majority of new entrants into Maryland EMS are through an initial emergency medical technician (EMT) clinician course. Hundreds of EMTs enter the Maryland EMS system each year, although these numbers fluctuate. Upon gaining EMT certification, many subsequently transition to the advanced life support (ALS) level. While most remain in the Maryland EMS system, some explore opportunities in other healthcare professions. The number of Maryland clinicians is shown below. In FY 2023, the number of licensed/certified clinicians increased at each level except EMR, with the exception of FY 2021. OCS works with other MIEMSS departments to supply clinician data and trends (e.g., clinician numbers by affiliation and NREMT pass rates) to various statewide committees for analytical purposes.
MIEMSS Online Training Center
The Online Training Center (OTC), MIEMSS’ distance learning management system, received an extensive upgrade in 2022, and reached over 61,723 registered users through FY 2023. Of those registered users, 16,000 clinicians were active in the OTC during the same period. The OTC hosted 76 active courses and offered the examination for the Hospital Base Station Course exams. In conjunction with ImageTrend® and MIEMSS Information Technology and Systems Management, the Office of EMS Clinician Services (OCS) enhanced OTC functionality to capture clinician continuing education records into the Licensure system. This allows a course taken in the OTC to sync to a clinician’s education report in the Licensure system, updating within 24 hours. With completed updates in the current fiscal cycle, OCS has scheduled additional planned upgrades to some new modules in Licensure. These upgrades will bring new features and functionality and advance education programs and services by improving the communication methods for sending correspondence for clinician education and training.
Online Training Center (OTC) Page
Collaboration and Constituents
To ensure all aspects of the EMS system benefit from optimally qualified EMS medical direction and incorporate technologybased solutions for effective medical direction to increase consistency and quality, the Office of EMS Clinician Services (OCS) partners with the Office of the State EMS Medical Director to provide technological innovation to incorporate protocol content into BLS psychomotor exams and ensure reliability and validity through a skills exam module in the Moodle Learning Management System. This effort includes Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement site visits to educational programs in Maryland, including Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI) regional offices, jurisdictional academies, and community colleges.
OCS develops, sustains, and collaborates with relevant constituents, professional and educational partners for emergency preparedness and the advancement of EMS by attending and supporting conferences and conventions. The variety of support given to these efforts ranges from merchandise sales for Maryland EMS clinicians to offering live support for EMS Clinician licensing and continuing education. In FY 2023, OCS attended the Winterfest EMS Conference, Miltenberger Emergency Services Seminar, EMS Care Conference, and the Maryland State Firemen's Association Annual Convention. OCS staff attends BLS and ALS subcommittees of SEMSAC, contributing organizational and management resources for committee meetings. As a stakeholder, OCS collaborates and problem-solves educational practices and procedures that affect EMS clinicians, making it a key conduit to MIEMSS leadership for support and resources. OCS gives regular reports at Commercial Ambulance Services Advisory Council, Jurisdictional Advisory Councils, Pediatric Emergency Medical Advisory Council, County Associations, and MIEMSS Regional meetings. OCS shares and disseminates essential information for the function of licensing and educational programs. OCS participates as a member of the National Association of State EMS Officials Council (NASEMSO), the Personnel Licensing Council, and the Education Councils, and serves as liaison to the Councils to the East Region to support national decision processes regarding licensing, education, and best practices.