§515.530. EMT, A-EMT, EMT-I and Paramedic Testing

a)         All candidates shall hold a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate and be 18 years of age or older to be licensed. Candidates who meet all of the requirements of this Part may test after attaining 17 years of age and may apply for licensure upon attaining 18 years of age.

 

b)         After completion of an approved education program and a recommendation to test by the EMS MD or designee, candidates shall take a written licensure examination. Candidates shall have the choice of taking either the NREMT written and psychomotor examination or the Department's examination if eligible and available.  The Department's written examinations shall be based on the national EMS education standards and practice analysis and are equivalent to the NREMT written examinations as modified by the Department.

 

c)         Candidates qualifying for licensure examinations may register for examinations through either the State of Illinois testing vendor or the NREMT. Application information may be found at the Department's website (http://www. continentaltesting.net/) or the NREMT website (https://www.nremt.org/nremt/ about/apply_for_assess_exam.asp).  All candidates for licensure examinations shall be approved by the EMS System.  Candidates shall register to take a licensure examination within 90 days after course completion, including all clinical and field requirements.

 

d)         A failure rate per course of 30 percent or greater on the licensure examination will subject the particular education program to review by the EMS System or the Department.

 

e)         Candidates shall have three attempts to pass the licensure examination within 12 months after initial authorizations to test.  Candidates who fail all three initial examination attempts shall take a refresher course in alignment with the NREMT Cognitive Examination Retest policy.  Candidates shall be granted up to three additional licensure examination attempts only upon EMS MD authorization.

 

f)         When a candidate elects to take the State examination or the NREMT examination, the candidate shall pass that particular testing procedure or exhaust all three test attempts with the initial testing agency.  Any candidate may request a waiver from the Department to change the examination testing venue after three unsuccessful testing attempts.

 

g)         Failure to appear for the examination on the scheduled date, at the time and place specified, shall result in the forfeiture of the examination fee.

 

(Source:  Amended at 42 Ill. Reg. 17632, effective September 20, 2018)