Out of options NREMT-P wise, need help

[d3653je]

If something like this is posted somewhere I missed it. I feel like it is unique and applies to me so I chose to start a new thread.

1996 I complete and graduate from a DOT Standard EMT-P Class. Pass the NREMT-P skills. Fail the written by one question, twice, in OB. For whatever resaon I walk away from it with a cert that I completed the course but no State or NREMT-P.

I remain involved in EMS but inside the hospital. I maintain BCLS, ACLS, and PALS. I work as a emergency room technician. Do some als stuff like IV's and EKG's. Don't officially intubate but am able to maintain the skill. I stay involved with ER-Tech work / skills.

Leave it all for a year or two to join the dot com world. Say 2000

Dot com bubble bursts and I return to being an ER Tech. Get ACLS PALS and BCLS current.

2005 I walk away again to go work as a vet tech in an animal er. Different kind of patient but same skills. However in addition to what I could do in people medicine, I can push drugs of any kind, advanced airway to RSI. Basically in the animal world I function as a Medic, An ICU Nurse, a PA. Yeah it is animals but to pet owners it is their babies. All the skills the medic RN and PA I can now do.

Still do animal but want to start running people again. Plan, challenge the NREMT-P. 14 years since finishing EMT-P, figure I should take courses to catch up. BCLS ACLS PALS ITLS done. Need to be an EMT-B, go and complete that and get state vert and NREMT-B. Final class I take is EMT-P refresfer 48 hours DOT approved, this class covers the scope of the classes all ready taken but most of the class is about what is missing from those classes like cric, dropping chests and so on.

I am now current yet need to take that final test, written and skills to become a lic emt-p. States seem to want current NREMT-P to take the state test. NREMT says unless i maintained EMT-P state wise within two years, I can test NREMT-P.

If it has been greater than i think either two or five years from EMT-P course completion, I must take EMT-P over again.

Re-entry NREMT-P standards I meet minus the ever being a NREMT-P or State EMT-P. I ask NREMT to take into account the classes I have taken from June to now, all the classes required to re-enter, plus i sit through EMT-B and don't take one note, pass course with a 98% average. State test score is 97% Skills Passed. EMT-P 48 hour refresher done, can i please take the CBT for NREMT-P. Answer is no, you have to repeat the class even though you have taken all these courses, we cannot process you without State EMT-P Lic. State, may I take your EMT-P written and skills test...no. Why not, cause you are not an NREMT-P.

I am at my wits end. With the economy, work, bills, and so on, i need a job as a Paramedic. Taking a 14 month course over again, what for? Everything that has changed since 1996 has been updated through the classes I have taken in 2010.

State, can I take your EMT-P Test to prove I am competent to you but we do this test off the record. The purpose is for you to come to bat with me for NREMT. A letter is needed from State for re-entry that i am good to go. State I live in PA, says no. Maryland says No. States that don't affiliate with NREMT, they all say no.

Local Congressman says he cannot help me, out of his area of authority, contact this Congressman for help. Correct Congressman says sorry i cannot help.

State Senator to US Senate, I cannot help you. Sends me the pages he downloads from NREMT

Only one left, President of the United States, Obama, have not heard from him. State of PA says Obama is powerless to help me. Maybe right maybe wrong, don't know yet. Will I ever hear from Obama, highly unlikely.

Try to meet halfway, can I test EMT-I and go from there...NO

See three possible options:

1.) Re-take EMT-P
2.) File an appeal with NREMT to test.
3.) Take legal action against State or NREMT, not very versed on the law, do I have a case, do I seek arbitration?
3a) I am sure there is some lawyer some where who would take the case. Will a court hear the case? What will the court say? OJ Simpson killed two people but a jury set him free. So Court and arbitration if options, may be wild cards at most.

NREMT use to let people challenge their tests, what happened that caused that to change?

Is there any State in the USA that will let me challenge their EMT-P test?

For God's sake I am not asking for a card or a license, I am asking for the chance to take the written test, take the skills test, to prove by passing, that I can be and EMT-P

Retaking EMT-P, why should I have to?
I am unemployed and have used savings to take all these classes to get up to date with the standards of care.
I need an EMT-P job, I need to work, I need medical for my family.
The Volunteer Fire I run with has no Medics at all. Closet Medic is 20 minutes away by ground. Sometime longer if they are on calls.

Bottom line I am a Paramedic. I completed the course. I have earned the right to say I am a Paramedic. I am an unlicensed Paramedic. I am not a NREMT-P certified.

NREMT says it is a state issue. State says it is a NREMT issue. A Governor in theory would have say over that State they run, right? Who has oversight of NREMT? Most States tend to follow NREMT for issues like this. Yes EMS is different from State to State, can cric in State A but not in State B. Can do RSI in State B but not in State A.

All I want to do is test somewhere, anywhere. i will go to any State in the Union that would allow me to challenge. Again not asking for a card only asking for a chance to test to prove and earn a card.

So a lesson to all of you no matter what level of training you have, don't ever let in lapse for you may find yourself in the same boat as me.

Anybody got any ideas that might work?

Thanks for reading this, was long and very much exposed my ADD. I am to tired and fed up to do a spell check so sorry.

 

[Veneficus]

If something like this is posted somewhere I missed it. I feel like it is unique and applies to me so I chose to start a new thread.

1996 I complete and graduate from a DOT Standard EMT-P Class. Pass the NREMT-P skills. Fail the written by one question, twice, in OB. For whatever resaon I walk away from it with a cert that I completed the course but no State or NREMT-P.

I remain involved in EMS but inside the hospital. I maintain BCLS, ACLS, and PALS. I work as a emergency room technician. Do some als stuff like IV's and EKG's. Don't officially intubate but am able to maintain the skill. I stay involved with ER-Tech work / skills.

Leave it all for a year or two to join the dot com world. Say 2000

Dot com bubble bursts and I return to being an ER Tech. Get ACLS PALS and BCLS current.

2005 I walk away again to go work as a vet tech in an animal er. Different kind of patient but same skills. However in addition to what I could do in people medicine, I can push drugs of any kind, advanced airway to RSI. Basically in the animal world I function as a Medic, An ICU Nurse, a PA. Yeah it is animals but to pet owners it is their babies. All the skills the medic RN and PA I can now do.

Still do animal but want to start running people again. Plan, challenge the NREMT-P. 14 years since finishing EMT-P, figure I should take courses to catch up. BCLS ACLS PALS ITLS done. Need to be an EMT-B, go and complete that and get state vert and NREMT-B. Final class I take is EMT-P refresfer 48 hours DOT approved, this class covers the scope of the classes all ready taken but most of the class is about what is missing from those classes like cric, dropping chests and so on.

I am now current yet need to take that final test, written and skills to become a lic emt-p. States seem to want current NREMT-P to take the state test. NREMT says unless i maintained EMT-P state wise within two years, I can test NREMT-P.

If it has been greater than i think either two or five years from EMT-P course completion, I must take EMT-P over again.

Re-entry NREMT-P standards I meet minus the ever being a NREMT-P or State EMT-P. I ask NREMT to take into account the classes I have taken from June to now, all the classes required to re-enter, plus i sit through EMT-B and don't take one note, pass course with a 98% average. State test score is 97% Skills Passed. EMT-P 48 hour refresher done, can i please take the CBT for NREMT-P. Answer is no, you have to repeat the class even though you have taken all these courses, we cannot process you without State EMT-P Lic. State, may I take your EMT-P written and skills test...no. Why not, cause you are not an NREMT-P.

I am at my wits end. With the economy, work, bills, and so on, i need a job as a Paramedic. Taking a 14 month course over again, what for? Everything that has changed since 1996 has been updated through the classes I have taken in 2010.

State, can I take your EMT-P Test to prove I am competent to you but we do this test off the record. The purpose is for you to come to bat with me for NREMT. A letter is needed from State for re-entry that i am good to go. State I live in PA, says no. Maryland says No. States that don't affiliate with NREMT, they all say no.

Local Congressman says he cannot help me, out of his area of authority, contact this Congressman for help. Correct Congressman says sorry i cannot help.

State Senator to US Senate, I cannot help you. Sends me the pages he downloads from NREMT

Only one left, President of the United States, Obama, have not heard from him. State of PA says Obama is powerless to help me. Maybe right maybe wrong, don't know yet. Will I ever hear from Obama, highly unlikely.

Try to meet halfway, can I test EMT-I and go from there...NO

See three possible options:

1.) Re-take EMT-P
2.) File an appeal with NREMT to test.
3.) Take legal action against State or NREMT, not very versed on the law, do I have a case, do I seek arbitration?
3a) I am sure there is some lawyer some where who would take the case. Will a court hear the case? What will the court say? OJ Simpson killed two people but a jury set him free. So Court and arbitration if options, may be wild cards at most.

NREMT use to let people challenge their tests, what happened that caused that to change?

Is there any State in the USA that will let me challenge their EMT-P test?

For God's sake I am not asking for a card or a license, I am asking for the chance to take the written test, take the skills test, to prove by passing, that I can be and EMT-P

Retaking EMT-P, why should I have to?
I am unemployed and have used savings to take all these classes to get up to date with the standards of care.
I need an EMT-P job, I need to work, I need medical for my family.
The Volunteer Fire I run with has no Medics at all. Closet Medic is 20 minutes away by ground. Sometime longer if they are on calls.

Bottom line I am a Paramedic. I completed the course. I have earned the right to say I am a Paramedic. I am an unlicensed Paramedic. I am not a NREMT-P certified.

NREMT says it is a state issue. State says it is a NREMT issue. A Governor in theory would have say over that State they run, right? Who has oversight of NREMT? Most States tend to follow NREMT for issues like this. Yes EMS is different from State to State, can cric in State A but not in State B. Can do RSI in State B but not in State A.

All I want to do is test somewhere, anywhere. i will go to any State in the Union that would allow me to challenge. Again not asking for a card only asking for a chance to test to prove and earn a card.

So a lesson to all of you no matter what level of training you have, don't ever let in lapse for you may find yourself in the same boat as me.

Anybody got any ideas that might work?

Thanks for reading this, was long and very much exposed my ADD. I am to tired and fed up to do a spell check so sorry.

Take the class again. The curriculum will have changed 2 times since 1996

 

[d3653je]

I see your point, yes things change. Look at CPR...few years back stacked shocks were the protocol. A few years later it is 2 minutes of CPR then shock.

Compressions without ventilations is what the public is taught. Ten years ago you would have been like...what?

Two years from now they may change their minds again and say here use a preloaded epi pen that will deliver 1 mg epi IM. Then do compressions for one minute then use an aed.

Four years from now they may say here use this an epi/atropine pen with a long and strong enough needle to inject intra-cardiac, follow by stacked shocks with three pads, same way as now plus a a/p pad that does something new, then cpr.

The way things were done in 1996 are different than the way things are done now. I get current with the 2010 ways through a refresher course, the same way a Medic from the same class would, only difference would be the guy who stayed current will have been told 5 years ago do this like this. 5 years later he is taught to disregard the way it was 5 years ago, this is what we want you to do now. 2010 things change again, now they want you to do it this new way. he and I learn this new way in a refresher. Only difference is I didn't have to go through the changes like he did over the years but in the end, we both are on the same page for how they want us to do it now. The NREMT-P exam will be about how we do things now. So my friend gets his new card for several more years while I go and test everything based on what the current standards are and if I pass...then he and I are on the same page with the powers that be...right?

 

[Shishkabob]

I completed the course. I have earned the right to say I am a Paramedic.

No, you have not.


You earned the privilege 14 years ago to test, and failed.



If you truly believe you know enough to pass the test, and you really "need"to have a job, go to a few week long medic mill then take the test.

 

[Veneficus]

then he and I are on the same page with the powers that be...right?

Maybe, but he had a mandatory A&P section which included cell biology and a intro to biochemistry along with more basic science focus in medic class, so unless you had something like General chemistry, cell bology, organic or biochemistry, and a&P you will have the same skills but not the same knowledge.

One of the biggest changes in EMS is the push towards educated decision making and less on protocol or cookbook treatments. The new curriculum for this year has even more basic science requirement.

Even at most colleges if you are 3 years out of date on your sciences you have to redo them.

Medicine constantly changes over time. There have been more improvements in the last 10 years than in the history of medicine. Stuff I learned last year is already changing.

 

[firetender]

Brother, what a pickle!

What I've read says that you made a technical error that came back and bit you in the butt. Your STARTING PLACE needed to be this question to the State: "Given my background, AFTER I complete all the courses I list here, will you let me take the test?"

EVERYBODY right now seems quite clear on the answer. You may have been able to save a lot of trouble for yourself by asking first. I'll gamble the truth of this: Even the guys who are the ones that get "favors" done, the Politicians, even they can't say, "Sure, I can squeeze this lemon for you a little!" When influence won't turn the lock, there ain't no key!

Unfortunately, it looks like you backed yourself into a corner. It doesn't look like you'll get what you want unless you start from scratch. The welfare of your family won't wait. Make your choices accordingly.

The question I'd like you to ask yourself is will the energy you spend trying to "put this right", "Get them to listen.", "Sue their...", "Get the law changed." jeopardize the stability of you, therefore your family? You can either spend your energy defending or growing.

Make use of what you have right now to get the family thing on an even keel; EMS or otherwise. Make sure your base is solid, THEN pick up on EMS again, but this time having done the research to know exactly what you're to do.

Thanks for coming here and sharing. You'll get a lot of reality thrown back at you, but maybe that's what you came for.

Good fortune!

 

[Jon]

If something like this is posted somewhere I missed it. I feel like it is unique and applies to me so I chose to start a new thread.

1996 I complete and graduate from a DOT Standard EMT-P Class. Pass the NREMT-P skills. Fail the written by one question, twice, in OB. For whatever resaon I walk away from it with a cert that I completed the course but no State or NREMT-P.

I remain involved in EMS but inside the hospital. I maintain BCLS, ACLS, and PALS. I work as a emergency room technician. Do some als stuff like IV's and EKG's. Don't officially intubate but am able to maintain the skill. I stay involved with ER-Tech work / skills.

Leave it all for a year or two to join the dot com world. Say 2000

Dot com bubble bursts and I return to being an ER Tech. Get ACLS PALS and BCLS current.

2005 I walk away again to go work as a vet tech in an animal er. Different kind of patient but same skills. However in addition to what I could do in people medicine, I can push drugs of any kind, advanced airway to RSI. Basically in the animal world I function as a Medic, An ICU Nurse, a PA. Yeah it is animals but to pet owners it is their babies. All the skills the medic RN and PA I can now do.

Still do animal but want to start running people again. Plan, challenge the NREMT-P. 14 years since finishing EMT-P, figure I should take courses to catch up. BCLS ACLS PALS ITLS done. Need to be an EMT-B, go and complete that and get state vert and NREMT-B. Final class I take is EMT-P refresfer 48 hours DOT approved, this class covers the scope of the classes all ready taken but most of the class is about what is missing from those classes like cric, dropping chests and so on.

I am now current yet need to take that final test, written and skills to become a lic emt-p. States seem to want current NREMT-P to take the state test. NREMT says unless i maintained EMT-P state wise within two years, I can test NREMT-P.

If it has been greater than i think either two or five years from EMT-P course completion, I must take EMT-P over again.

Re-entry NREMT-P standards I meet minus the ever being a NREMT-P or State EMT-P. I ask NREMT to take into account the classes I have taken from June to now, all the classes required to re-enter, plus i sit through EMT-B and don't take one note, pass course with a 98% average. State test score is 97% Skills Passed. EMT-P 48 hour refresher done, can i please take the CBT for NREMT-P. Answer is no, you have to repeat the class even though you have taken all these courses, we cannot process you without State EMT-P Lic. State, may I take your EMT-P written and skills test...no. Why not, cause you are not an NREMT-P.

I am at my wits end. With the economy, work, bills, and so on, i need a job as a Paramedic. Taking a 14 month course over again, what for? Everything that has changed since 1996 has been updated through the classes I have taken in 2010.

State, can I take your EMT-P Test to prove I am competent to you but we do this test off the record. The purpose is for you to come to bat with me for NREMT. A letter is needed from State for re-entry that i am good to go. State I live in PA, says no. Maryland says No. States that don't affiliate with NREMT, they all say no.

Local Congressman says he cannot help me, out of his area of authority, contact this Congressman for help. Correct Congressman says sorry i cannot help.

State Senator to US Senate, I cannot help you. Sends me the pages he downloads from NREMT

Only one left, President of the United States, Obama, have not heard from him. State of PA says Obama is powerless to help me. Maybe right maybe wrong, don't know yet. Will I ever hear from Obama, highly unlikely.

Try to meet halfway, can I test EMT-I and go from there...NO

See three possible options:

1.) Re-take EMT-P
2.) File an appeal with NREMT to test.
3.) Take legal action against State or NREMT, not very versed on the law, do I have a case, do I seek arbitration?
3a) I am sure there is some lawyer some where who would take the case. Will a court hear the case? What will the court say? OJ Simpson killed two people but a jury set him free. So Court and arbitration if options, may be wild cards at most.

NREMT use to let people challenge their tests, what happened that caused that to change?

Is there any State in the USA that will let me challenge their EMT-P test?

For God's sake I am not asking for a card or a license, I am asking for the chance to take the written test, take the skills test, to prove by passing, that I can be and EMT-P

Retaking EMT-P, why should I have to?
I am unemployed and have used savings to take all these classes to get up to date with the standards of care.
I need an EMT-P job, I need to work, I need medical for my family.
The Volunteer Fire I run with has no Medics at all. Closet Medic is 20 minutes away by ground. Sometime longer if they are on calls.

Bottom line I am a Paramedic. I completed the course. I have earned the right to say I am a Paramedic. I am an unlicensed Paramedic. I am not a NREMT-P certified.

NREMT says it is a state issue. State says it is a NREMT issue. A Governor in theory would have say over that State they run, right? Who has oversight of NREMT? Most States tend to follow NREMT for issues like this. Yes EMS is different from State to State, can cric in State A but not in State B. Can do RSI in State B but not in State A.

All I want to do is test somewhere, anywhere. i will go to any State in the Union that would allow me to challenge. Again not asking for a card only asking for a chance to test to prove and earn a card.

So a lesson to all of you no matter what level of training you have, don't ever let in lapse for you may find yourself in the same boat as me.

Anybody got any ideas that might work?

Thanks for reading this, was long and very much exposed my ADD. I am to tired and fed up to do a spell check so sorry.

Alright fella.

You seem to be somewhere in PA. That means you have one more recourse.

Talk with the PA OEMS. There have been some cases where folks have managed to meet PA standards, but not NR standards. They still take the NR tests... but don't get a NR card... they only get the state cert.

It's possible. One example I know of was someone that missed the 2 year window by about a week because they scheduled, then pushed back the test date. NR refused to give the cert, but the state flexed and gave the cert.

If you are in the southeastern corner of the state, I might be able to suggest some schools, if you need to go through again.

 

[bstone]

You're in a tough position. Call your state's Bar Association and ask about a lawyer who specializes in "Professional Licensure" issues.

 

[MrBrown]

You could always go to the 12 week Houston Fire Department Paramedic patch factory for the barely homeostasasing and those with low synaptic ACh transfer rates.

Ondansetron, quick.

 

[medic417]

You're in a tough position. Call your state's Bar Association and ask about a lawyer who specializes in "Professional Licensure" issues.

Why? He failed the test and walked away w/o trying again during the time specified in black and white. The abc courses do not equal a Paramedic. Why not sue the board of nursing because they won't let him test RN even though he has experience and all the abc courses? Makes no sense. He made a bad choice and now must live with the consequences.

Now to the op since you are experienced etc look at the 10 week Paramedic course at http://www.teex.com/teex.cfm?pageid...=ESTI&Course=EMS135&templateid=14&navdiv=ESTI

 

[WTEngel]

You are probably not going to like this, but I am going to say it anyway...

You were not a paramedic. Even though you may have been allowed to practice some paramedic skills at various different jobs, you failed to become a certified paramedic, to "re certification" as a paramedic is impossible, since you were never certified.

The card classes are great to augment a paramedic education and certification, but they are virtually worthless without the paramedic cert to back them up.

I personally would not want someone treating one of my family members who had a congressman or the president step in and make an exception for him so he could take the exam. The NREMTP exam is not an exhaustive test of your knowledge. It is a basic gauge of your retention of random samplings of knowledge you should have gained during your paramedic course.

With all of this being said, it sounds like you need to retake the paramedic course. If everyone is telling you something (you can't take the exam) then it is likely you are incorrect and they are right. Your sense of entitlement worries me a bit. The attitude that your previous experience working with animals and doing a tech job, with gaps in between is equal to being a PA, RN, paramedic, etc. indicates to me that you need some perspective that may be easily gained by taking a full paramedic course.

I know it doesn't taste good, but I think it is some medicine you are going to have to swallow if you want to become a paramedic and be successful in EMS.

 

[rescue99]

You could always go to the 12 week Houston Fire Department Paramedic patch factory for the barely homeostasasing and those with low synaptic ACh transfer rates.

Ondansetron, quick.

:lol: Mr. Brown...that's just wrong. Funny but wrong...

 

[ExpatMedic0]

Ok there was a lot to read so correct me if I am wrong here.

You where never a Paramedic, you never passed the NREMT-P and you never where licensed/certified as a Paramedic in any state?

Why in the world do you think the NREMT would allow you to challenge there test 12 years after your EMT-P course? NREMT gives you 2 years from the time of your Paramedic course to pass, even that is a very long time and pretty nice of them.

 

[bstone]

Why? He failed the test and walked away w/o trying again during the time specified in black and white. The abc courses do not equal a Paramedic. Why not sue the board of nursing because they won't let him test RN even though he has experience and all the abc courses? Makes no sense. He made a bad choice and now must live with the consequences.

Now to the op since you are experienced etc look at the 10 week Paramedic course at http://www.teex.com/teex.cfm?pageid...=ESTI&Course=EMS135&templateid=14&navdiv=ESTI

Because at this point legal advice from an attorney is the only avenue for definitive resolution. Some states, like NH, allow for a lawyer to appeal to the state's Dir of DOH for an "EMS Waiver" due to hardship or exceptional circumstances. It's written into the statute but you often need a lawyer to look through it.

My honest opinion is it's too late. A 1996 medic course that resulted in no cert or license is long over and dead. But a lawyer might have a different way of going about it.

 

[firetender]

I just wonder why, when a guy posts a three foot long original post people who answer one sentence of it are compelled to put the whole original up?

And at what point do you stop talking to someone who is no longer in the room?

 

[bstone]

I just wonder why, when a guy posts a three foot long original post people who answer one sentence of it are compelled to put the whole original up?

They do it for you, out of love.

And at what point do you stop talking to someone who is no longer in the room?

When I am done with what I have to say.

 

[Veneficus]

I just wonder why, when a guy posts a three foot long original post people who answer one sentence of it are compelled to put the whole original up?

And at what point do you stop talking to someone who is no longer in the room?

Hoping he will see how outrageous his position is.

I am not trying to be mean, but based on the fact he took a handful of overview courses and had some clinical experience as a tech somewhere, I doubt very much he could pass today's NREMT.

He could spend an aweful lot trying to figure that out. Especially when you get a lawyer involved. (their time is valuable)

Everyone talks about EMS being a respected profession. Valuable and dignified.

If I called a state or country medical board and asked them if I could test out of medical school because I am a paramedic, they would laugh at me.

If I went to a nursing school and wanted to test out of nursing school because I have a paramedic cert, they would laugh at me.

I teach most of those cert classes and you could learn more from an episode of House than you can in all of them added up. I can sum up all 16 hours of ACLS in 342 words. (less than some of my posts on this forum)

Some guy who failed out 16 years ago and went over the basic guidlines of varous care scenarios without even completing current curriculum should be laughed right out of any state or ems body just as he would nursing or medicine.

What precedent would it set for EMS if somebody did make this exception? Would anyone goto or take their family to a doctor that failed out, worked in healthcare and got his senator to pull some strings to get a medical licence?

Nobody would accuse me of being a defender of the "system," but we can't let every hard luck story start taking care of people with the toys and procedures we have today without the formal knowledge behind it.

I cannot imagine why anyone in EMS would entertain any possible exception to the requirements to enter the field.

I beat a traffic ticket once myself, does it qualify me for the Bar and to represent others?

 

[Shishkabob]

Especially when you get a lawyer involved. (their time is valuable)

Expensive? Yes. Valuable? That's debatable...

 

[medic417]

Expensive? Yes. Valuable? That's debatable...

Don't know why but made me think of Larry the Cable guy:

"The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this -- you cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians, it creates a hostile work environment."

 

[EMTinNEPA]

If I called a state or country medical board and asked them if I could test out of medical school because I am a paramedic, they would laugh at me.

If I went to a nursing school and wanted to test out of nursing school because I have a paramedic cert, they would laugh at me.

And yet, in Pennsylvania, an RN can "test out" of paramedic school and become a "Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse"... what's wrong with this picture?