EMT cognitive test
NREMT (national registry of emergency medical technicians) out-sources
their testing to an outfit called Pearson. This is apparently the
norm in this industry as yesterday morning when I presented myself to
take the test there were a number of nursing students present. Some
of the security precautions taken by Pearson seemed a bit extreme.
When I got there the guy in the lobby carefully examined my passport
and Oregon driver's license, he photographed me, and scanned my right
index finger print. He then had me place all my belongings (watch,
walled, everything) in a locker. I was only allowed to take the
locker key and my license with me. I dutifully took those items to
the next step (about 10 feet away) where I was compared to the picture
that had been taken of my no more than 2 minutes before, my driver's
license was again scrutinized, and my right index finger was again
scanned and the print compared to what it had been so long ago. I was
now ushered into the testing room where I was placed in a 4' by 4'
cubicle which contained the PC (dell, yuck) I would test on. The
whole time I was testing all sound in the room was being recorded and
each of the 15 or so cubicles was being video-taped. This was of
course in addition to the proctor who was visually monitoring us all
from a glass enclosure.
NREMT told us we'd have 2 hours 15 minutes, Pearson told us we only
had 2 hours, I decided not to panic quite yet. It didn't tell me HOW
I had done, just that I was done. The test is one of those adaptive
deals. You can get as few as 70 questions or as many as 150. As you
do better the computer asks you harder questions, though ultimately
fewer of them. I assume that once you achieve some maximum number of
incorrect answers it will just stop on you too. About 35 minutes
later the system told me I was done. I had no idea if this was
because I'd messed up too much or because I'd done well. I've been
checking back on the NREMT web site virtually every hour since I left
the test yesterday. An hour or so ago I finally got my result:
Examination Scored
Congratulations on passing the NREMT cognitive examination. Your
passing result on the cognitive examination will remain valid for a
one year period from the date of the examination, 7/26/2007(provided
you meet all current requirements for National EMS Certification.
Please allow 2 weeks for the NREMT to mail out results letters.
YAY!