Purpose: To establish a uniformed procedure to determine a safe and effective manner for Basic EMT’s
to become authorized to evaluate blood‐glucose levels using a glucometer in the Pre‐Hospital setting.
Policy:
The New York State Department of Health Bureau of Emergency Medical Services
(NYS DOH BEMS) Policy Statement 05‐04 allows the use of glucometers by Emergency
Medical Technicians (EMT) in Basic Life Support (BLS) EMS agencies to check patient blood
glucose levels. This approval was given under the conditions that the EMS service wishing
to use a glucometer at the BLS level, be granted approval by WREMAC, each EMT
complete an approved training program and the service apply and be granted a Limited
Laboratory Registration. BLS providers in Advanced Life Support (ALS) agencies must also
complete the training prior to performing this skill. In order to provide this additional care,
a BLS or ALS agency must complete the following items and be approved by WREMAC before
allowing their BLS providers to perform this skill. BLS and ALS agencies that already have their
CLIA authorization numbers are able to skip to Step 1 C.
To establish a uniformed procedure to determine a safe and effective manner for Basic EMT’s
to become authorized to evaluate blood‐glucose levels using a glucometer in the Pre‐Hospital setting.
