CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Emergency medical score pass rates are higher than ever before, and the protocols used by EMS teams throughout the state are in the top 15 in the country.
West Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Emergency Medical Services Director Jody Ratliff said as recently as 2023 some EMT scores dipped into the 40s, but those rates have doubled, while test scores for AMTs (Advanced Medical Technicians) have remained constant.
“All of a sudden now our EMT pass rate is around 86 percent, our AMT pass rate is still in the mid-80spercent, our EMR pass rate went up to 71.5 percent, and our first-time pass rate for paramedics is 96 percent,” Ratliff said Thursday on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.”
The gain is a chain reaction caused by efforts to empower institutions and instructors to develop training programs that facilitate student success in and out of the classroom. Training has also increased with the addition of five ambulance simulators funded by the CARES Act that are managed by HealthNet Aeromedical Services.
“It didn’t just stop with our national registry testing; we also used that with our classes. Just this past weekend at the pediatric symposium, we had the trucks down there and all of the resources training the people who are already in EMS,” Ratliff said.
The simulators are equipped with high-fidelity interactive mannequins that can simulate conditions like bleeding, seizures, and childbirth. They also include video cameras and microphones that can facilitate an after-action evaluation for the student. The units can travel across the state for demonstrations or training at local EMS departments or schools.
“We can test all of our skills on it; we can do a full assessment with the cardiac monitor in there,” Ratliff said. “We can work these mannequins and these trucks with everybody from an EMR up to a critical care nurse.”
Part of the empowerment process has allowed the instructors to change the order of some of the training. The changes bring the experience to the student to help them understand the importance of the skill required of their emergency medical classification.
“We changed it around a little bit so when you first come into it, instead of doing all the boring stuff first, you do a couple of ride-alongs first,” Ratliff said. “That way you can actually see what EMS is all about and get into the excitement; then they fall in love with it and do better in class.”
Ratliff said the protocols used by ambulance crews across the state have been elevated to the 12th best in the country. Elevating the standards of care makes for more proficient EMS workers but really increases the level of emergency response across the state.
“That’s what benefits patients,” Ratliff said. “Even though it looks good for the state and it’s great Governor Morrisey is leading us on this, who it really benefits are the patients, and that’s who we’re trying to target: the patients.”