Pennsylvania certifies EMTs through the Department of Health's Bureau of EMS, working with regional EMS councils. Everything below comes from the Pennsylvania Code, the Bureau's exam memorandum and its 2025 bulletin, checked October 18, 2026. Confirm with your program or regional EMS council before you pay.
Study aid, not a protocol. Nothing on this site replaces your course, your medical director or your agency's protocols. Built by an RN and former EMT. Headed In LLC is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) or any state EMS office; their names appear here only to point you to the real thing.
The national steps, briefly
A state-approved EMT course
Every state approves its own programs, all taught to the National EMS Education Standards. Most run 150 to 300 hours over three to six months.
A healthcare-provider CPR card
AHA BLS or an equivalent your state accepts, usually before clinicals.
The cognitive exam
The National Registry (NREMT) EMT exam: 70 to 120 adaptive questions in 2 hours, $104 per attempt, six attempts within two years of your course.
Your state's license or certification
The card comes from the state, not the Registry. The state's own steps are below.
Age:at least 16 (28 Pa. Code 1023.25). Find a class with the Bureau's certification class search.
Course: an EMS provider educational course for EMTs.
CPR card: a current CPR certificate from a course on the Department's accepted list.
Exam, part 1, skills:one station, scored on patient assessment and management plus one skill drawn from a list: vital signs, medication assist, medication administration, CPAP, oxygen, airway adjunct and bag-valve-mask, oropharyngeal suctioning, CPR and AED, bleeding control, extremity immobilization and 12-lead placement. The result is only "successful" or "unsuccessful"; fail either part and you get a retest.
Exam, part 2, written: the Department-approved cognitive exam. Ask your program whether you register through the National Registry and how candidates under 18 test.
Exam deadlines: take your first attempt at each part within 12 months of finishing the course. You get six attempts within two years: after three failures, a Department-approved refresher (written) or remedial course (skills) before three more. Six failures, or two years without passing, and you repeat the course.
FBI background check: since January 1, 2026, every initial certification needs an FBI fingerprint check no more than 90 days old when you send a complete application, uploaded to the application; applications without it come back unprocessed. Register at uenroll.identogo.com with service code 1KG756; you pay, and appointments can take several weeks.
Application and fee: the Department's certification application, on a form or online. No certification fee appears on the Bureau's pages; ask your program or regional EMS council.
Registration: a new certification counts as registered for three years, then you re-register every three years, at least 30 days before it runs out. Re-register by passing the registration exams or with 24 continuing education credits, at least 18 of them in clinical and core topics, plus a CPR course every two years.
From another state: Pennsylvania has Certification by Endorsement; ask your regional EMS council for the steps.