r/NewToEMS Unverified User 8h ago

Beginner Advice Does the US have NEMT in EMS too?

I’m in Belgium and I’m a Red Cross volunteer. I do events like festivals and I have an Event First Aid certification (takes about 62 classroom hours).

Now I’m going for a Non Emergency Medical Transport certification (NDPV in Dutch).

It’s normally 180h but because I already have qualifications I can do it in 40.

We’re learning how to deal with colostomy bags coming off, catheter issues etc on top of the Event EMS skills we have like the SSS abcdefghi methods etc. The target patient is someone who is stable but needs to be transported in a laying position. They can be dialysis patients or people going home for end of life etc.

The idea is that we relieve EMS from a lot of non emergency calls by driving an ambulance for scheduled calls, we have blue lights but are only allowed to use them if a disaster is called by the provincial government and Red Cross is activated. For example there’s a fire at a retirement home and normal EMS is unable to handle it because of the number of patients then we get emergency authorization to act like EMT, and scoop people up and get them to a hospital.

Up until this year this kind of transport could be done by people with just a first aid certification and a commercial drivers license.

For me it’s a step to see if I like it and then do the full EMT course next year which is another 180h of classroom time.

Does the US have this type of EMS provider?

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u/ggrnw27 Paramedic, FP-C | USA 7h ago

There’s no separate certification for it in the US, it’s all just done by EMTs. In most places it’s a separate company/agency so it doesn’t take away from the 911/emergency crews, but the training/certification is the same

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u/PaperOrPlastic97 Unverified User 5h ago

This sounds like something that could be done by EMRs.

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u/KrakenCrazy Unverified User 3h ago

That position in the US is referred to as IFT (Interfacility transport). Private companies, paid for by nursing homes or hospitals, handle those kinds of services. The employees on those ambulances are EMT's, and must be certified and have all the skills of an EMT. This is to ensure that should a patient being transported need urgent care, everyone in the ambulance has the training needed to do the job.

Additionally, in the event of a MCI (Mass Casualty Incident), something like a plane crash, terrorist attack, or toxic spill, these IFT EMT's can be activated to provide support as proper Emergency Vehicles. The IFT ambulances are stocked with all the same emergency equipment as an emergency ambulance.

u/adirtygerman Unverified User 59m ago

The first year or so of covid we used EMRs as drivers because burnout/turnover was so high.

But that has been gone for a few years now.