National Registry Recertification: Here’s What's New

If you’re due to recertify with the National Registry this year, there’s good news.

For 2026, the National Registry has made a significant update to how continuing education hours are calculated, and it’s a change that directly benefits working EMS providers.

For the first time, required certification courses like CPR, ACLS, PALS, and other “card classes” now count toward your continuing education (CE) requirements.

That may sound like a small adjustment, but for EMTs and Paramedics balancing shift work, deployments, and family life, it’s a meaningful one.

In previous cycles, many providers had to complete their required certification renewals and log separate continuing education hours on top of that — often through lengthy online modules and repetitive refresher content. Now, those required certifications can fulfill part of your CE requirements, reducing redundancy and cutting down on time spent in low-value coursework.

What This Means for EMTs and Paramedics

Because of this change:

• Refresher courses can be shorter
• Redundant online video modules are being eliminated
• Education is shifting back to live, in-person instruction
• Providers can focus on hands-on skills and real-world application

At Best Practice Medicine (BPM), we’ve already aligned our refresher programs with the updated National Registry requirements. That means streamlined, fully in-person courses designed around practical skill development, not filler content.

Our goal has always been simple: deliver education that prepares providers for real-world patient care. With the National Registry’s updated model, the system now supports that same philosophy.

Why This Change Matters

This update reflects something many EMS professionals have been asking for: education that respects your time and experience.

You’re already maintaining your credentials. You’re already completing critical certification courses. Now, those efforts finally count toward your recertification requirements.

At BPM, we see this shift as a positive step for the profession. It allows us to focus less on checking boxes and more on delivering high-impact, scenario-based education that strengthens confidence and clinical performance.

Recertification shouldn’t feel like a burden, It should reinforce your readiness.

And now, it does.

Enroll for re-certification classes here: https://bestpracticemedicine.com/ems-refreshers

Learn more about National Registry Recertification changes here: https://www.nremt.org/EMT/Recertification