Association of Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Professionals
Healthcare Emergency Manager Certification - HcEM
Certification/Re-certification Requirements
The AHEPP HcEM Certification was developed based on the AHEPP Professional Standards. This certification is meant to verify knowledge of the individual HcEM. We hope that this verification of individuals leads to an increased level of professionalism in the field.
The AHEPP Professional Standards and Certification was developed by a large committee of experience Healthcare Emergency Managers from across the US and Canada. These committed individuals spent countless hours perfecting these standards and processes and AHEPP and the entire Healthcare Emergency Management community is indebted to them for their contributions.
HcEM Pre Requisite Courses
All applicants for ALL certifcation levels (HcEM-B, HcEM-P, HcEM-M) must complete the required courses below and sign the attestation of completion of required prerequisite education. A full listing of FEMA independent study courses can be found here. Although all FEMA education is not a pre-requisite for the HcEM, we strongly recommend reviewing this list and taking additional courses that apply best to your job role.
Substitutions for the CEs listed above must map to the competencies in the AHEPP Professional Standards and be pre-approved by AHEPP prior to submission
2 Hours
4 Hours
3 Hours
3 Hours
3 Hours
16 Hours
16 Hours
3 Hours
HcEM - B Certification Requirements
Examination: Applicants must pass the HcEM™ examination with a score of 80% or higher.
Employment: Applicants for the HcEM - B are required to have one (1) year of experience in healthcare preparedness (do not need to be currently employed).
Experience: Documented experience in healthcare facility disaster response OR exercise.
Field Contribution: None Required
HcEM - P Certification Requirements
Examination: Applicants must pass the HcEM™ examination with a score of 80% or higher.
Employment: Applicants for the HcEM- P are required to have more than five (>5) years of experience in healthcare preparedness (do not need to be currently employed).
Experience: Documented participation in 2 or more responses or exercises where incident command was activated to a healthcare facility and/or community disaster. Applicants must have participated in a leadership position on the disaster response team or exercise planning team for a healthcare facility.
Field Contribution: None Required
HcEM - M Certification Requirements
Examination: Applicants must pass the HcEM™ examination with a score of 80% or higher.
Employment: Applicants for the HcEM- M are required to have more than ten (>10) years of experience in healthcare preparedness (do not need to be currently employed).
Experience: Documented participation in 5 or more responses or exercises where incident command was activated to a healthcare facility and/or community disaster. Applicants must have participated in a leadership position on the disaster response team or exercise planning team for a healthcare facility.
Field Contribution: Item A is Required. Applicants will also submit either option B, C, or D.
A. Submission of 3 written certification exam questions on the professional competency of choice. See Appendix C.
Select one of options B, C, or D (See Appendix C of the Full HcEM Description Document for acceptable submissions).
B. Conduct a presentation (original content) on an AHEPP Professional Competency of your choice at an AHEPP conference/meeting related to healthcare emergency preparedness viawebinar or live presentation.
C. Presentation (original content) on an AHEPP Professional Competency of your choice to another audience within the field of healthcare emergency management
D. Publication on an AHEPP Professional Competency of your choice to a peer reviewed emergency management related journal
