How to Sign Up for the EMT Exam

After you complete your training, you’re ready to focus on passing the EMT certification exam. First, determine whether your state has its own examination process. Chances are, your instructor knows this and may have already provided you with information on how to register for the state exam.

If you’re taking the NREMT exam, you must fulfill the following minimum requirements:

• Be 18 years of age or older

• Successfully complete an EMT training program that meets or exceeds the National EMS Education Standards for the EMT

• Complete that course within two years of taking the exam

• Have a current CPR certificate at the healthcare-provider level

• Successfully pass a state-approved practical examination (your final practical test)

If your state requires the NREMT examination, you’ll need to set up a testing account, which is easy to do. Begin by going to the NREMT website. Toward the upper left of the home page, click on the link “Create New Account.” Fill out the requested information. You’re requesting to use your new login as a “nationally certified EMS professional.”

Credit: Courtesy of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians

After you complete the first page, you’ll be required to respond to statements related to licensing action and felony statements. Do not hide any criminal convictions that you may have. Like most states, the NREMT has certain criteria for who they allow to take the exam.

Although very serious convictions may keep some people from taking the exam, most incidences are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The fastest, easiest way to be barred from taking the exam is to try to hide any past criminal record.

After you submit your information, an account will be created. Your training program will be notified through the website that you have registered an account, and the course director will be asked to verify that you have successfully completed your training and have a current CPR healthcare-provider-level card.

Once that’s done, your account will show that you’re ready to register for an examination. You’ll pay the exam fee of $70 via the website, or follow the instructions to print a money order tracking slip for mailing your money order to the NREMT.

After your application has been verified and approved, and you’ve paid your fee, your NREMT account will show that you’ve received an authorization to test (ATT), allowing you to determine the date and location of the exam you want to take. This step takes you to the Pearson VUE website, which allows you to schedule your exam.