West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services Marks Highest EMS Pass Rates in Program History

The West Virginia Department of Health's Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) is pleased to announce that educational institutions across the state are seeing higher EMS pass rates than ever before, a direct result of more recent efforts to empower instructors to facilitate student success in and out of the classroom.

In 2024, the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (EMSAC) began addressing the state's pass rates by meeting with educational institutions to set forth stricter guidelines for classroom instruction. These guidelines give OEMS increased oversight of​ educational institutions offering EMS courses, leading them to establish prerequisite requirements to the traditional coursework and dictate that students must maintain a C, or 70 percent, average to continue the program.

"This is the first time that we have met or surpassed the national standards for pass rates," shared OEMS Director Joseph Ratliff. "We were seeing EMT rates in the mid to low forties; those are now at 80 percent. Our paramedic rates were standing around 60 percent, now they're in the high nineties, five percent higher than the national average. This was the first step in addressing areas where we could improve and tackling that head on so we can ensure more providers are coming into this state and staying here."

"I want to commend these most recent students and their instructors on this measurable success," added Secretary of Health Dr. Arvin Singh. "We want to produce the best and brightest here in West Virginia, and this is proof that we are doing jus​​t that. We aren't going to stop here; we are going to continue this push for excellence from our instructors, our students, and our emergency medical professionals already out in the field so that we can provide the highest level of care to West Virginians in need."

While EMSAC's guidelines were implemented in only a few schools to test their profit, the council will meet in the coming months with the intention of passing a statewide mandate to ensure all educational entities are meeting these new standards. ​