Tennessee officials report expansion of neonatal resuscitation training for EMS

Mary Lee Lemley, an EMS trainer, told a Tennessee Department of Health committee that the statewide rollout of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) for emergency medical services has expanded markedly over the past year and is supported by new state funding and equipment updates. "I'm just gonna give you a little bit of an update from where we were to where we are with our EMS training," Lemley said at the meeting.

The update matters because the training targets neonatal care delivered by prehospital providers; Lemley said the program has helped rescue and stabilize neonates in the field and that more counties are offering NRP classes. "This is our Tennessee. 95 counties. My big thing was 95 counties in 95 days. Well, I'm at 101 days," she said, summarizing the program's outreach.

Lemley told the committee that state funding for fiscal year 2025 included $135,000 that was procured at a bulk exam rate; she said the program later received an additional $135,000. According to her presentation, those funds translated to roughly 6,942 NRP exam seats distributed across the state. Lemley also reported that the per-exam pretest fee rose from $55 to $75 "as of yesterday." She said the…