This FAQ should answer any questions you may have about our Collector and BAT Qualification Programs. If you have additional questions, please contact us!
What is a Breath Alcohol Technician (BAT)?
A Breath Alcohol Technician (BAT) is an individual trained according to the U. S. Department of Transportation alcohol testing program requirements. A BAT must:
- Be knowledgeable about 49 CFR Part 40 alcohol testing procedures
- Have received qualification training in accordance with the DOT Model BAT course
- Have demonstrated proficiency and received a certificate of qualification
What kinds of opportunities exist for medical technicians who above completed BAT and/or Collector qualification?
Qualified medical technicians can find work in a variety of places, including hospital ERs, urgent care centers, and occupational health clinics.
Who can provide BAT training and refresher training?
A BAT instructor must be an individual who has done one of the following:
- Regularly performed DOT tests for at least a year
- Conducted BAT training for at least a year
- Successfully completed a “Train the Trainer” course.
Can a medical technician become a BAT instructor?
Federal regulations (49 CFR Part 40) require a BAT instructor to be a qualified individual who has regularly conducted DOT alcohol tests for a period of at least a year, or who has completed a “train the trainer” course.
BAT regulations have changed since I qualified. Do I need to be retrained under the new rules?
Yes. No matter how long you have been conducting DOT breath alcohol tests, you must go through refresher training every 5 years – there are no exceptions and you cannot be grandfathered in under old regulations. A refresher course is beneficial anyway – approximately 90% of the students who attend our BAT courses state that they received at least one or two pieces of information that were new to them or which they had forgotten since their last training.
Is BAT training the same for workplace and law enforcement?
No. Our courses were developed to meet DOT requirements. Law enforcement requirements can be different, and vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
I am considering the DOT Collector qualification course. Will this also qualify me to do non-DOT collections?
Yes. If you are qualified as a Collector under DOT’s stringent regulations, you are also qualified to complete non-DOT collection. (The reverse is not true – if you take a non-DOT course, you are not qualified to do DOT collections. We strongly recommend taking a DOT qualifying Collector course.)
Are your courses hard to pass? What is the success rate?
To date, no-one has failed to pass our courses. We do pre-screen applicants for basic skills, but anyone with a high school level education should be able to complete and pass our courses.
What would happen if I did fail the exam?
In the unlikely event that you should fail to pass the exam on the first try, simply contact our staff and we will reset the exam for you to take again. If you fail a second time, we will request that you carefully review the material covered in the course before resetting the exam once more. If you were to fail a third time, we will not be able to reset the exam until you have re-read the Collector Guidelines and 49CFR Part 40. Again, we have never had an individual who has completed the course fail to pass the exam.
Can I take the BAT and the Collector courses simultaneously?
Yes! We stand out from our competitors with our unique all-in-one weekend courses which allow you to complete all of our programs in just two days of hands on training. We cover:
- DOT/non-DOT BAT qualification
- DOT/non-DOT Collector qualification
- Hair, saliva and rapid drug testing collections
- DNA/paternity collection training
This comprehensive training program provides you will full medical technician training, at a lower cost that taking each course separately over a matter of days or weeks!
What equipment do you offer training on?
For BAT qualification, we train on the popular AlcoSensor IV handheld evidential breath testing (EBT) device.
What is your internship program?
We often invite the top graduates from each class to participate in our internship program. This allows recent graduates to get shifts and hours under their belts as newly minted medical technicians, and we do anticipate retaining graduates of our program as employees of our company as we continue to grow.
