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Description

Florida's EMS education system presents two different policy stories at the EMT and paramedic levels. EMT performance is encouraging: 5,873 Florida EMT candidates achieved a 74.1% first-attempt pass rate in 2025, statistically indistinguishable from the national benchmark of 73.2%, and the statewide rate improved 5.5 percentage points from 2023. The EMT level supports continued monitoring rather than broad intervention.

Paramedic education remains the principal concern. Among 1,869 Florida paramedic candidates in the 2025 cohort, 63.4% passed on the first attempt, compared with 72.9% nationally - a 9.5-point gap. The 2025 rate improved 3.5 points from 2023, but the longer record shows a persistent shortfall. Florida has trailed the rest of the nation in every comparable cohort since the NREMT examination became required for Florida paramedic licensure in 2018; pooled across 2018-2023, Florida-trained candidates had roughly half the odds of first- attempt success of candidates trained elsewhere.

The weakness does naot appear to be caused by students failing to complete paramedic education. Florida paramedic retention is about 81%, compared with 82% nationally. The gap opens at certification, which directs attention toward examination readiness, clinical judgment, curriculum alignment, clinical experience, and related instructional factors rather than simply increasing enrollment or reducing attrition.

The shortfall is also concentrated. The Southeast trains the largest number of candidates and posts the lowest first-attempt rate at both certification levels. Three paramedic programs have remained below 50% first-attempt performance in every year with available data and account for a disproportionate share of statewide failures. Program size and county rurality do not explain the pattern; commercial ownership is independently associated with lower paramedic first-attempt success after adjustment for size.

Publication Date

9-1-2026

Policy Brief for Florida's Lifeline in Focus: NREMT Performance Review 2025

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