Flight & Critical Care
What has to be true before you can sit the FP-C
FP-C is not an entry-level exam, and IBSC gates eligibility accordingly. Knowing the shape of those requirements early saves wasted study time on an exam you are not yet eligible to schedule.
A current paramedic (or equivalent) license
FP-C eligibility starts with holding a current license or certification at the paramedic level, or an equivalent qualifying credential IBSC recognizes for critical care transport roles. The certification is built on top of that existing scope of practice, not as a replacement for it.
Transport or critical-care clinical experience
Eligibility generally also requires active work in a critical-care transport setting, ground or air, rather than general EMS experience alone. Because IBSC sets and periodically updates the exact experience pathways and any accepted alternatives, confirm current eligibility requirements directly against the official FP-C candidate handbook before assuming you qualify.
Why eligibility is gated this way
FP-C content assumes a working familiarity with critical-care transport realities, flight physiology, managing a critical patient with fixed resources in a moving vehicle or aircraft, that is hard to build without being in that environment already. Gating eligibility on real transport experience keeps the exam testing judgment on top of lived practice, not testing material a candidate has only read about.
How to actually prepare, once eligible
Once eligibility is confirmed, practicing against IBSC's real domain blueprint is the most direct next step. Try a free set of FP-C practice questions, and read how the FP-C exam is structured for the domain breakdown behind it.