American CME

What it is

American CME is an online continuing education provider for EMS. The home page describes it as "Continuing Medical Education for Prehospital Emergency Medical Professionals", and the footer gives its location as Traverse City, Michigan, USA. It serves two kinds of user. Individual EMTs and paramedics come for CE credit toward state and national recertification, either through accredited CAPCE courses or through a library of free courses. Agencies, medical control authorities (MCAs) and training coordinators come to enroll their people, assign courses and protocol tests, and track who has finished what.

The home page sets out four doors into the product: "CAPCE CE CREDITS", described as "Accredited CE for state and NREMT renewal"; "PROTOCOL TESTS", which are "Tests and courses assigned by your agency or MCA"; "FREE EMS COURSES", described as open EMS training courses with a pointer to check the Accepted States page; and "AGENCY ACCOUNTS", where an organization can "Register an agency and assign courses to your teams."

Free courses and how they count

The free library is the most fully described part of the site. The Free Courses page says that "American CME has 38 free courses that are half hour each (.5 CEH each) totaling 19 hours." A learner can enroll in one course at a time or take them all at once through the Free EMS Course Bundle.

The same page is direct about what the free courses are worth. It says: "Free Courses are not CAPCE-accredited." It adds that most states require CAPCE courses for recertification, that "States such as Michigan do NOT accept our Free CE courses", and that New Jersey accepts some of them, with a New Jersey Group to join for those specific courses so the CE is reported to the state. For NREMT renewal the site sends learners to its CAPCE courses. An Accepted States page lets a learner check their own state before relying on free hours.

Courses can be repeated. A learner who wants to retake one opens it from the My Courses page and uses the Retake Course button to reset progress.

What the free catalog covers

Each free course listing shows a level (Basic or Advanced), a topic, the CEH value and a one-line objective. The courses are grouped by topic:

• Airway: a King Airway course on device function, indications, contraindications and insertion tips.
• Medical: a 12-Lead ECG review, 12-Lead and 3-Lead RACER courses that give access to EKG rhythm strips for interpretation practice, several stroke courses (anatomy and pathophysiology, identifying large vessel occlusion strokes with FAST-ED, a New Jersey course using RACE, and stroke transport options), diabetic emergencies, IM epinephrine for anaphylaxis and bronchospasm, sepsis recognition, and a course on the opioid overdose epidemic covering treatment with Narcan.
• Operations: landing zone work for helicopter EMS responses, radio communication between EMS crews and emergency department staff, and a course on violence in EMS covering defense and de-escalation.
• Patient assessment: a three-part sequence on the scene survey, the initial assessment and the secondary assessment.
• Preparatory: patient restraint, bed bugs, circadian rhythm disturbances, communicable diseases in two parts, cot operations and patient lifting, diabetes anatomy and physiology, intraosseous cannulation, disinfection ("Keep It Clean"), and lifting and handling.
• Special considerations: a three-part introduction to the MI-MEDIC, the Michigan Medication Emergency Dosing and Intervention Cards used for pediatric medication, and a course on Michigan's mandatory reporting laws for child and vulnerable adult abuse and neglect.
• Trauma: ACS guidelines for field triage, burn basics, "Platinum 600" on treatment in the first 600 seconds of a trauma, and a spinal immobilization course on the dangers of backboard use.

The Michigan courses and the New Jersey stroke course show that the catalog is partly built around specific state protocols, not only national topics.

CAPCE courses for recertification

The paid side of the catalog is the CAPCE course library, which the site presents as the route to accredited CE for both state and NREMT renewal. The menu also lists RACER, the EKG rhythm-strip practice tool, as its own section. The site does not print prices for the CAPCE courses or the memberships on its home or free course pages.

Agency accounts and custom education

For organizations, the home page section "For Agencies, Med Control Authorities, and Training Coordinators" says: "Register your agency or MCA to enroll personnel, assign courses, and track completion in one place. Subscribe to Custom Education to additionally deliver your own courses and tests." That last option lets an agency deliver its own courses and tests through the site, alongside American CME's catalog. Buyers can compare membership plans or ask to talk about an agency account.

The Custom Courses and MCA Assessments menu lists areas for named organizations, among them Medstar, North Star Training, Star EMS and a series of MCAs (GCMCA, MCMCA, NRMCA, OCMCA, SCCMCA, TCEMCA, WLMCA and WMRMCC). The news column describes recent product changes: a new member dashboard, a feature that lets group leaders add team members themselves, a field for adding a National EMS ID (NEMSID) to a profile, and new dashboards for custom courses and assessments. There is also an invitation to join the ACME Preview Panel.

Support and community

Support runs by email, with a Support section and a Contact Us page in the menu, and the company keeps Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube channels. The news and resources area points to EMS events, including the Michigan EMS EXPO, NAEMT EMS Conferences, the SMEMSIC Professional Development Conference and EMS World EXPO, along with a blog and an EMS news feed.

Who it suits

American CME suits EMTs and paramedics who need CAPCE-accredited CE for state or NREMT recertification and want it from a provider that focuses only on prehospital care. The free courses suit learners in states that accept them, providers in New Jersey who can use the New Jersey Group, and anyone who wants half-hour refreshers on stroke, sepsis, trauma triage or patient assessment without paying. Michigan crews get courses built around their own tools, such as the MI-MEDIC dosing cards.

Agencies and MCAs that need to assign protocol tests, enroll a roster and see completion in one place are the other main audience, and Custom Education lets them run their own courses and tests through the same system.

It suits less well a learner in a state that requires CAPCE credit who hopes to renew on free hours alone; the site says plainly that this will not work in states such as Michigan. Anyone outside EMS will find nothing here, since every course is written for prehospital care.