We are very excited to announce the release of a brand new comprehensive exam for paramedic students: the Paramedic Readiness Exam 4 (PRE4).

The PRE4 is a multiple choice summative exam which is designed to prepare students for the challenges of a state or national certification examination.

Exam Development & Pilot

As is the case for all of our tests, we owe a debt of gratitude to so many EMS educators who participated in various phases of the exam development process: item writing, item selection, revision, and test item analysis.

We used the 2009 National EMS Practice Analysis as our outline and collaborated with seasoned educators to develop this 200 question exam. The PRE4 was reviewed and approved by an EMS educator advisory committee and a board certified Emergency Medicine Physician. With their guidance, we met our high standards for quality content that is appropriate for evaluating when a paramedic student has reached terminal competence.

Before its release today, the PRE4 was pilot tested with a group of geographically diverse paramedic students. We used item response theory to measure whether the exam was a reliable assessment--in other words, we made sure that the exam was accurately able to distinguish proficient learners from weak learners.

Blue Paramedic Exam to be Retired

With the release of this exam, we will be retiring the long-standing Blue Paramedic Exam. The PRE4 assesses the exact same subject matter as the Blue Exam, but the questions are, of course, different and fresh.

One thing isn’t changing! You’ll still schedule the PRE4 the same way you would have scheduled the PRE3 or the Blue. Simply go to your Test Schedule in the Learning Center and click “New Test.” (You can learn more about how to schedule a Fisdap Exam in our Help section.) As always, our exams must be administered in a secure and proctored environment.

Use the Test Item Analysis Report with the PRE4 to Help Maintain Accreditation

Reviewing and editing the exams your students take is part of maintaining your accreditation. In particular, your program director & medical director must review and edit items that aren’t performing well. Our item analysis report can give you some great insight in this area. And if you or your medical director want to take the PRE4, please reach out to me directly for assistance.

To learn more about the details of the exam, including its blueprint, predictive value, and validity, click below to download the PRE4 Technical Manual.