Emergency Communications Test Readiness Program
Emergency Communications Test Readiness Program — a Matcom University professional development pathway.
Professional development only. Exam preparation, not certification. Matcom University provides awareness, education, and exam-preparation training to help you get ready for the real state and national board examinations. We do not issue state or national certifications or licenses, including APCO, NENA, NREMT, MIEMSS (Maryland EMS), FEMA, or state 9-1-1 telecommunicator, call-taker, dispatcher, EMR, EMT, AEMT, or paramedic credentials. Our programs prepare you to sit for and pass the official state and national examinations; certification is granted only by the issuing authority after you meet all of its requirements.
Who it's for
Newly hired and experienced 9-1-1 call-takers, dispatchers, and trainees who intend to pursue an APCO International certification. Training coordinators who support candidates in an academy or agency program may also find it useful.
Program director: Walter Lee
What you'll be able to do
- Describe the certification pathway for public safety telecommunicators, including the fact that APCO International alone awards APCO certification and sets eligibility rules.
- Develop a personalized, dated study plan that maps the published exam content areas to self-assessed strengths and gaps.
- Identify the eligibility, application, and credential-maintenance steps for the NENA ENP using NENA's current published materials, and state that NENA alone awards the credential.
- Construct a personal gap analysis that maps self-rated confidence and supporting evidence against each domain in NENA's current published content outline.
Drawn from the learning objectives of the required courses.
Schedule
- 1. MU-CTP-101 APCO Test Readinessabout 3 weeks · 14.5 h cumulative
- 2. MU-CTP-102 NENA Test Readinessabout 3 weeks · 29.5 h cumulative
Estimated pace at about 6 study hours per week. Instructor-led cohorts set their own dates.
Upcoming cohorts
No cohorts are scheduled yet. Contact training@matcomops.org to ask about the next start date.
Curriculum
- Step 1 · MU-CTP-101APCO Test Readiness14.5 h · 4 modules
APCO Test Readiness prepares 9-1-1 telecommunicators and trainees who plan to sit for an APCO International certification examination. The course does not award APCO certification; that credential is awarded only by APCO International, so candidates must confirm current eligibility, fees, and exam content directly with APCO and their agency. Over four modules, learners map published content areas to their own strengths, review call processing, radio and CAD concepts, legal and confidentiality principles, and NIMS terminology, and practice evidence-based study and test-taking methods. Two assignments, a personalized study plan and a practice-item error analysis, turn general worry into a measurable preparation schedule. Local agency policy and state requirements always govern real-world practice; this course teaches knowledge review and exam strategy, not agency procedures. Learners finish with a dated readiness checklist they can use through exam day.
- Step 2 · MU-CTP-102NENA Test Readiness15 h · 4 modules
NENA Test Readiness prepares 9-1-1 professionals to approach the NENA Emergency Number Professional (ENP) examination with a structured, evidence-based study process. The course does not award the ENP credential, which is granted only by NENA, and it does not reproduce or predict live exam items. Learners use NENA's current published candidate materials to build a personal gap analysis. They then review foundational concepts in 9-1-1 system architecture, location data, operations, regulation, and standards, and practice reading standards documents the way a professional-level exam expects. Next, learners build test-taking skills, including question analysis, timed practice, and error logging. The course ends with a data-informed readiness review and a study plan tailored to the learner's own schedule. Throughout, learners are reminded to confirm eligibility, fees, content outline, and exam policies directly with NENA, because these requirements change over time.
To graduate you must pass every required course (orientation, lessons, knowledge checks, assignments, practical sign-offs, practice exam, and a final exam at 80% or higher), meet the elective rule, and complete the capstone.