Department of Emergency Medical Services

Welcome to the Dept. of Emergency Medical Services

The Department of EMS prepares students for careers in Emergency Medical Services. To meet the expanding role of prehospital providers, the department offers three certificate programs, EMT, AEMT and Paramedic, as well as a Minor in Emergency Medical Services, a Bachelor of Science in Emergency Medical Services, and a Bachelor of Science in Professional Health Sciences. The Department of EMS strives to prepare competent entry-level Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedics in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains, with or without exit points at the Advanced EMT, and/or Emergency Medical Technician-Basic. Whether you are a student enrolled at the University of South Alabama, someone who would like more information about our certificate programs, our minor program or our bachelor’s degree programs, thank you for visiting. We want you to receive the information that you are seeking. However, if you have questions that remain unanswered, or would prefer to speak with a faculty or staff member in person, please feel free to contact us by phone or email.


 

Programs

The Department of Emergency Medical Services offers the following programs.

▼   Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Certificate Program
The Department's EMT certificate program prepares students for careers in pre-hospital emergency medicine and enables graduates of the program to work as emergency medical technicians (EMT's) in a variety of settings, such as fire departments and public and private ambulance services. The program can be completed in one semester.

 

▼   Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) Certificate Program
The Department’s Advanced EMT certificate program prepares students for careers in pre-hospital emergency medicine and enables graduates of the program to work as Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians (AEMT’s) in a variety of settings, such as fire departments and public and private ambulance services. The program must be taken as an academic credit student. The program can be completed in one semester.

 

▼   Paramedic Certificate Program
The Department’s Paramedic certificate program prepares students for careers in pre-hospital emergency medicine and enables graduates to be employed as field paramedics in a variety of settings, such as fire-rescue departments, private ambulance services and aero-medical services, to name a few. The program can be completed in three to four semesters, depending on the student’s desired course load. Advanced EMT is pre-requisite to the program.

 

▼   Minor in Emergency Medical Services
The Department of EMS offers a Minor in Emergency Medical Services (EMS). This program is an undergraduate minor with a minimum of 24 credit hours.

 

▼   Bachelor of Science in Emergency Medical Services
The Department of EMS offers the Bachelor's of Science degree in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for students interested in a career in pre-hospital medicine and EMS management. As the field of EMS continues to grow and change, leaders and educators with a background in emergency medicine are needed to help shape the future of pre-hospital medicine and healthcare. This program is designed to prepare students for the clinical and administrative challenges of a career in Emergency Medical Services and healthcare in the 21st century.

 

▼   Bachelor of Science in Professional Health Sciences (PHS)
The Department of EMS offers the Bachelor’s of Science degree in Professional Health Sciences (PHS) for those students who want to have a well-rounded background in health sciences, but do not wish to pursue a specific professional degree. This program also allows students in pre-professional programs that change their major from specific professional degrees to apply most of their course credits towards this degree. The PHS program provides broad information in both health related disciplines as well as health informatics and/or management. Graduates from this program should be suited to work in hospitals, long-term care facilities, health insurance companies, and physicians’ offices; as well as becoming pharmaceutical reps, medical supply reps, hospital managers’ assistants and more. They could also pursue an MPA and go into hospital administration and many other fields.

 

  

About EMS

Our Department is proud of its more than 50-year tradition of educating EMT’s, Advanced EMT’s and Paramedics. Our students receive didactic, laboratory and clinical education in every facet of emergency medical care and prehospital medicine. Areas covered in in our education programs include, but are not limited to, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Prehospital Trauma Patient Management, Advanced Medical Patient Management, and Advanced Airway Management. Advanced reasoning and critical thinking is incorporated into every aspect of our educational programs.

Our Paramedic graduates are highly sought and actively recruited by employers because they possess in-depth knowledge and fine-tuned clinical skills. Public and private EMS providers and fire and rescue services from across the country often call to inquire about our highly-skilled and multi-competent graduates.

Bachelor Degree graduates are well trained in Hospital and Emergency Management skills and are routinely offered positions in Healthcare Management and Administration. Professional Health Science students have two exciting tracks that they can choose from; Healthcare Management and Informatics, which qualifies them to compete for opportunities at every level within a hospital or medical office setting.

Our faculty members provide a wealth of knowledge and experience to help you achieve your academic and career goals. They strive to provide a friendly, personal, and encouraging atmosphere where you can learn how to care for patients in an emergency and out-of-hospital setting.

Paramedic Certificate Program Accreditation

The University of South Alabama’s Emergency Medical Services Paramedic program is accredited by the Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP).


Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
727-210-2350
www.caahep.org

To contact CoAEMSP:
214-703-8445
www.coaemsp.org

The Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) and the Alabama Department of Public Health Office of EMS have recognized and approved the University of South Alabama paramedic program. The Program is in good standing and in full compliance with all accreditation and authorizing agencies.  The University of South Alabama is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS COC).

The following chart reflects the Department of EMS Education’s three-year student success averages that were reported to our accrediting body, CoAEMSP.

 

Dept. of Emergency Medical Services
Paramedic Certificate Program
Student Outcomes
Year National Registry
Written Exam Success Average
National Registry
Practical Exam Success Average
Program
Retention
Graduate
Positive Placement
2022 92.3% 100% 81.3% 92.3%
2021 100% 100% 73.3% 100%
2020 82.4% 94% 70.8% 82.4%
3 Year Average 91.6% 98% 74.1% 91.6%

Alabama Licensure and National Certification

Successful completion of the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT), and Paramedic programs qualify graduates to take the following exams for Alabama licensure and National Certification:

  • National Registry of Emergency medical Technicians (NREMT) EMT Cognitive Exam.
  • NREMT Advanced EMT Cognitive Exam.
  • NREMT Paramedic Cognitive Exam.

NC-SARA State Professional Licensure Disclosure

The Department of Education requires compliance with state regulations of any state in which the University of South Alabama provides distance education for students. To facilitate this compliance with state regulations, USA has joined the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). NC-SARA allows USA to offer distance education in 49 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (California is not a SARA state). The USA Department of Emergency Medical Services EMS certificate program meets all professional licensure or certification requirements in the 49 SARA states except for the state of New York.