Conference 2012 FAQ

Here are some recently asked questions about annual NCEMSF conferences that might be helpful to others:

Q: Our school is going to pay for our conference registration. How can we register as a group and pay together?

A: While starting this year each conference attendee must individually register for the conference, it is still possible to pay as a group. You have two choices:

1. At the end of the conference registration process, each attendee can indicate that they are mailing payment. Then you can total everybody's individual registration fees and send us a single check or a purchase order for the total amount. Please make certain to indicate the names and registration numbers of each attendee on the check or purchase order so that the payment may be appropriately credited. Keep in mind there is a 14-day window between when a person registers and when they will be automatically cancelled if we have not received payment.

2. Log in to the Web site as your group's NCEMSF institutional user and purchase registration tokens (via credit card, check, money order, or purchase order). This allows an organization to pre-pay for a set number of attendees without specifying who will be attending. Once we receive payment for the tokens, you will be supplied with a limited-use token code that you'll give to each of your attendees to use when registering. As they register for the conference, they will enter that code, which will debit your account and set their individual balance to $0.

Please refer to the Fees and Policies page as well as the online registration utility for further details.

Q: Does every member of our organization who is wishing to attend have to become an NCEMSF personal member prior to registering for the conference?

A: Every member of your organization who wishes to attend the conference must register on the NCEMSF Web site prior to registering for the conference. Whether they pay personal membership dues as part of their NCEMSF Web site registration is up to the individual. Depending on the time of conference registration, there may be a conference pricing differential for members vs. non-members. All conference attendees will become NCEMSF members for the remainder of the academic year as a result of conference attendance. See the Membership section of the Web site for further details.

Q: Must you be a certified (or licensed) EMS provider to attend the NCEMSF conference?

A: No. We welcome anybody with a relationship to collegiate EMS.  You do not have to be a first responder, EMT, or paramedic to attend, though much of our educational content is geared towards EMS providers.  We do offer administrative content that would be suited for collegiate EMS groupies without a strong EMS background.

Q: Can I earn continuing education credits (con-ed, CME, etc.) by attending the NCEMSF conference?

A: Yes, provided you request to receive CME upon check-in and turn in the conference evaluation form located in your conference folder at the end of the conference. Following the conference (please allow 2-4 weeks), you will be able to download your personalized conference CME report from the NCEMSF Web site verifying the sessions you attended. That report may then be printed, signed, and submited along with any other necessary identifiers (address, certification number, date of birth, etc.) to your state's EMS regulatory agency for credit by endorsement. Some states may require a copy of the conference program or other information as well. Because the membership of NCEMSF comes from across North America, it is exceedingly difficult and cost prohibitive to set up a system where credit can be directly transmitted to the states and automatically issued for attending a lecture; however, we provide assistance in obtaining credit by certifying attendance and providing supporting documentation that most EMS regulatory agencies accept.

Q: One delegate from our group can't make it. Can we swap out a different person in their place?

A: Yes. If they don't already have an account from attending a previous NCEMSF conference or being a personal member of NCEMSF, please have the second person register for an account on the NCEMSF Web site. After registering for an account, the person should register for the Annual Conference.  When prompted for payment type, they should select "Mail in Payment" or something similar.  Once the person is registered for the conference, please send an e-mail to confinfo@ncemsf.org asking for the swap.  Please provide the names of both the person who won't be attending and the person who will be attending instead.  It would make the attendee's check-in experience much more enjoyable if the swap is performed PRIOR to arriving at the conference.

Q: I didn't pay within the 14-day window and I received an e-mail telling me I was cancelled. What do I do now?

A: If you still intend to attend the conference, e-mail confinfo@ncemsf.org and request that your registration be cleared out. The system won't let you register for the conference twice. Once we've cleared out your old conference registration, you can re-register at the prevailing rate.