Open a jurisdiction to review its dated requirements and official sources. Use the compact tables to compare which states participate.
All 51 jurisdictions · Compact status table · Plan the crossing: offshore · 911 ground · IFT
Can I work a 13-week contract here on my home-state licence?
Yes — privilege alone covers a contract here
The Commission states privilege carries no time limit and is not restricted to declared emergencies, so a 13-week contract is covered provided the medic holds an unrestricted licence in another Member State, is affiliated with an agency authorised in Georgia, and practises under a physician medical director.
The Commission states privilege carries no time limit and is not restricted to declared emergencies, so a 13-week contract is covered provided the medic holds an unrestricted licence in another Member State, is affiliated with an agency authorised in Georgia, and practises under a physician medical director. Confidence is medium and quote_supports is partial because this is the Commission speaking nationally, not Georgia speaking about Georgia. It is reversed for anyone who already holds a Georgia licence of any status — see compact.privilege.home_state_licenses.
EMS Compact Commission · emscompact.gov · verified 4 Oct 2026 · Partly supported
Requirements include source links and review dates. Expand each source quotation for the supporting text. Unverified and incomplete information is labelled alongside the relevant requirement.
The items most likely to cost you a start date.
Adds a requirement
A Georgia EMS personnel licence is set to expire in the same year as the holder's National Registry certification, so the state licence has no independent term. Licensing in late in a Registry cycle buys correspondingly less licence for the same $75.
Practical effect for a traveller: your Georgia licence cannot outlive your Registry, so letting Registry lapse ends the Georgia licence too. It also means the renewal date you are used to from another state does not transfer.
State EMS office · dph.georgia.gov · verified 9 Aug 2026
The licenses will expire the same year as your National Registry expiration date.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Adds a requirement
Georgia operates no endorsement pathway. Every applicant files the same initial application, and anyone who has ever held any healthcare licence in any state or territory must have each of those licensing authorities send a completed Out-of-State Verification Form directly to the Office of EMS and Trauma.
The burden scales with career length: a medic licensed in four states over fifteen years needs four agencies to act, on their own timetables, before Georgia will finish the file. Compact privilege sidesteps this entirely for a medic whose home state is a member — the verification burden only bites when you actually need the Georgia licence.
State EMS office · dph.georgia.gov · verified 9 Aug 2026
Adds a requirement
An application that is still incomplete 45 days after the Office of EMS and Trauma receives it expires. The applicant then has to submit a new application, pay the fee again, and submit a new fingerprint criminal background check.
This interacts badly with the out-of-state verification requirement, because the slowest part of the file is the part you cannot control — another state's licensing office returning a form. Georgia publishes no processing time of its own but does publish this deadline.
State EMS office · dph.georgia.gov · verified 9 Aug 2026
Incomplete applications will expire within 45 days of receipt by the Office of EMS and Trauma.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
The office that issues the card, and the law it issues it under.
5 of 5 answered from a source · 0 written up as absences
Who actually issues an EMS licence in Georgia?
Georgia Department of Public Health, Office of EMS and Trauma (OEMST)
The Georgia Office of EMS and Trauma uses an online platform to process all initial and renewal medic and instructor license applications.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Where is Georgia's EMS licensing office online?
Partly supported
Georgia splits EMS across dph.georgia.gov/EMS and a set of top-level /ems-personnel-licensure pages that are not under it. The /EMS hub is the durable entry point; the personnel pages are the ones with the content.
Where do I actually submit an application in Georgia?
LMS is mandatory and there is no paper alternative: 'Paper applications are NOT accepted.' The cited URL is the DPH instructions page for LMS rather than the login host.
All applicants are required to use the Georgia EMS License Management System (LMS) to apply for licensure as an EMS provider.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Who do I call or email about Georgia licensure?
(404) 657-2700
Weakly supported
This is the DPH main switchboard from the site footer, not a direct OEMST licensure line. Georgia publishes no licensure-specific phone number or inbox on the personnel licensure page.
Which statute or rule governs EMS licensure in Georgia?
O.C.G.A. § 31-11-53
Weakly supported
The only statute Georgia cites anywhere on the personnel licensure page is the military provisional provision. O.C.G.A. Title 31 Chapter 11 is the EMS chapter, but the page does not say so, and the general licensure rules live in DPH rule Chapter 511-9 which has not been read. This citation should be replaced once the rule chapter is confirmed.
who have been honorably discharged within the past 12 months in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 31-11-53 AND reside in GA
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Levels, term, and what your National Registry does and does not buy you.
4 of 6 answered from a source · 2 written up as absences
What levels does Georgia issue, and what does my cert become there?
EMT-Responder (EMT-R)
EMT
AEMT
Paramedic
Advanced Tactical Practitioner
The quote covers the four ordinary levels; the Advanced Tactical Practitioner row is from the same page's application table, which routes it through the Initial Paramedic License. The EMT-R naming is the trap for a traveller: an EMR from another state is licensed here under a title nobody outside Georgia uses.
How to Apply for an EMS Personnel License at the EMT-R, EMT, AEMT or Paramedic Level
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
How long does a Georgia licence last before renewal?
Partly supported
Georgia does not run its own clock. The state licence is pinned to your National Registry expiration year, so the term is however long you have left on your Registry cycle at the moment you license — not a fixed number of years from issue. years is null because there is no state term to record; a medic licensing in Georgia halfway through a Registry cycle gets roughly half a cycle of state licence.
The licenses will expire the same year as your National Registry expiration date.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Do I need National Registry to get licensed in Georgia?
Yes
Hard gate with no alternative route. Georgia states plainly that an applicant who is not Nationally Registered, or who holds an expired out-of-state licence, has no licence option at all: 'There is no license that you are eligible for since you are not Nationally Registered or you have an expired out-of-state license.'
Persons who are currently National Registered with full certification at the EMR, EMT, AEMT, or Paramedic level.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Do I have to keep National Registry current to keep a Georgia licence?
Yes
Partly supported
Follows from the term being tied to the Registry cycle rather than from an explicit statement that Registry must be maintained. Confidence is medium: the page establishes the linkage of expiry dates, not the renewal rule, and the renewal requirements themselves live behind LMS.
The licenses will expire the same year as your National Registry expiration date.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Does Georgia make me sit its own exam?
Not yet verified
Not attempted in the spine pass. Georgia publishes its recertification and CE terms inside the License Management System rather than on a public page, so anything the EMS Personnel Licensure page does not state has not been established.
What criminal history bars me from licensure in Georgia?
Not established in the cited source
Georgia mandates a fingerprint-based GBI/FBI check through GAPS and will not accept a report the applicant supplies, but publishes no list of offences that categorically bar licensure. Whether a given conviction ends the application is a case-by-case determination the page does not describe.
The EMS Compact — formally REPLICA, the Recognition of EMS Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact. Enacted, in force, and verifiable status are separate dated facts, plus what privilege covers.
7 of 10 answered from a source · 3 written up as absences
What do I have to satisfy for compact privilege to apply in Georgia?
Partly supported
These are the Commission's national conditions, not a Georgia statement. Whether Georgia imposes anything further has not been established from a Georgia source — see compact.privilege.state_specific_restrictions.
Be at least 18 years of age. Section 4.B.1 2 Hold a current, unrestricted license in at least one EMS Compact participating state, as an EMT, AEMT, Paramedic, or a state-recognized level between EMT and Paramedic. Section 4.B.2 3 Affiliate with an EMS agency in the remote state that provides EMS medical direction. Section 4.B.3 4 Adhere to the Commission's Professional Code of Conduct . Rules 4.0(E) and 4.6 Then, as you practice: follow the local scope of practice, protocols, and laws of the state you are working in, under Rule 4.4 of the Commission's administrative rules.
emscompact.gov · EMS Compact Commission
Which situations does compact privilege cover in Georgia?
Not established in the cited source
No Georgia enumeration of covered circumstances located. The Commission frames privilege as applying at all times rather than by enumerated circumstance, but that is a national statement and has not been confirmed against Georgia rule.
When do I need full Georgia licensure instead of privilege?
Not established in the cited source
Not stated by Georgia or by the Commission for Georgia specifically. The only universal exclusion the Commission states is that privilege never applies in a state where you already hold a licence — see compact.privilege.home_state_licenses.
Can I work a 13-week contract in Georgia on my home-state licence?
Yes — privilege alone covers a contract here
Partly supported
The Commission states privilege carries no time limit and is not restricted to declared emergencies, so a 13-week contract is covered provided the medic holds an unrestricted licence in another Member State, is affiliated with an agency authorised in Georgia, and practises under a physician medical director. Confidence is medium and quote_supports is partial because this is the Commission speaking nationally, not Georgia speaking about Georgia. It is reversed for anyone who already holds a Georgia licence of any status — see compact.privilege.home_state_licenses.
Does it expire? There is no time limit. Your Privilege to Practice remains valid as long as you continue to meet eligibility requirements: an active, unrestricted EMS license in a participating Home State, affiliation with an EMS agency authorized in the remote state, practice under a local EMS Medical Director in compliance with the remote state's laws and rules, and adherence to the Professional Code of Conduct . Does it only apply during emergencies? No. The Compact applies at all times, not only during declared emergencies.
emscompact.gov · EMS Compact Commission
I have an old or inactive Georgia card — can I still use compact privilege here?
The Commission states that even an inactive license makes that state a Home State, and that a Home State is not a Remote State, so Compact privilege does not apply there. This is the Commission speaking nationally; this source does not establish whether the state offers inactive status or its reactivation pathway, so both remain unknown.
In this scenario, although the EMS practitioner holds an inactive license from Kansas, the state is still considered a Home State, since the individual holds a license there, rather than a Remote State. The EMS Compact uniquely allows an individual to have multiple Home States, which are not defined by residency or workplace affiliations. Consequently, the Privilege to Practice is only authorized in Remote States, provided the EMS Practitioner meets the provisions outlined by the EMS Compact. As Kansas is not a Remote State for this practitioner, the Privilege to Practice does not apply here.
emscompact.gov · EMS Compact Commission
Does Georgia add anything on top of the compact?
Not established in the cited source
Georgia's own EMS CompAct page describes the compact in general terms and imposes no Georgia-specific condition on a privilege holder — no registration, notification, fee or attestation is mentioned. That is silence on a page that would be the natural place to say it, which is weak evidence of absence rather than a finding; DPH rule Chapter 511-9 has not been read.
Where does an employer verify my privilege for Georgia?
Partly supported
Quick Verify is embedded on the Commission homepage and keyed to the 12-digit National EMS ID, which is neither your state licence number nor your NREMT number.
Quick Verify allows EMS clinicians, agencies, and the public to validate a clinician
emscompact.gov · EMS Compact Commission
Has Georgia passed the EMS Compact into law?
Nothing recorded
Current EMS Compact Commissioner page identifies Georgia's enacted Compact law and reports 2017-05-08 as the signing date. The obsolete Commission State Laws table source and its caveat were removed because this state-specific page directly supplies the law citation and enactment fact.
In Georgia, the REPLICA legislation was signed into law on May 8, 2017, making Georgia the tenth state to enact the EMS Compact.
emscompact.gov · EMS Compact Commission
Is Georgia's compact law actually in effect yet?
Partly supported
Georgia General Assembly act summary identifies July 1, 2017 as the effective date; the prior May 8 date was an enactment/signature date. The summary does not establish whether the act contains a delayed implementation clause.
Act 175; SB 109 This Act enacts the "Recognition of Emergency Medical Services Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact" ("REPLICA") and the "Nurse Licensure Compact." The Act enacts O.C.G.A. Sections 38-3-70, 38-3-71, 43-26-60, 43-26-61, 43-26-62, 43-26-63, 43-26-64, and 43-26-65 and amends O.C.G.A. Section 43-26-5. Effective July 1, 2017.
legis.ga.gov · State legislature
Can my Privilege to Practice actually be verified in Georgia?
The Commission's state-specific Commissioner page identifies Georgia as fully integrated with NEMSCD. This establishes current database integration, distinct from enactment and statutory effect. The page does not publish the initial connection date, so connected_date remains null.
The route in when privilege does not cover you.
7 of 9 answered from a source · 2 written up as absences
Will Georgia recognise my out-of-state certification at all?
No
Georgia says it outright, and it is the single most useful sentence on the page — but it does not mean an out-of-state medic is locked out. It means there is no endorsement pathway that credits your other state's licence: everyone, in-state and out, enters through the same initial application on the strength of current National Registry. Your existing licence buys you nothing except a mandatory Out-of-State Verification Form for every state you have ever been licensed in.
What does Georgia call its out-of-state pathway?
Does not arise in Georgia
There is no reciprocity pathway to name. An incoming medic files the ordinary Initial licence application for their level.
Where do I start a reciprocity application for Georgia?
The application itself is inside LMS behind an account, so the durable public link is the instructions page.
Applicants for EMS Personnel Licensure in Georgia must complete the appropriate application in the OEMST License Management System
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
What does Georgia require from an out-of-state applicant?
Current National Registry certification at the level applied for
Out-of-State Verification Form for every licence ever held
Fingerprint criminal history check through GAPS
Current CPR card, plus a current signed ACLS card for Paramedics
Notarised Verification of Lawful U.S. Residency form
The quote covers the requirement most likely to delay an experienced traveller: every state you have ever been licensed in has to send a verification back to Georgia, and the clock on that is the other state's, not yours. The remaining items are from the General Requirements block on the same page.
If you are currently (or have ever been) licensed as any type of healthcare provider in any U.S. State or Territory, you must complete the Out-of-State Verification Form (PDF, 157.68 KB) for each license held in each state/territory.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
What does it cost to get licensed in Georgia from out of state?
Credit/debit card transaction fee
Provisional EMT-Responder application for recently discharged military personnel
Per application, and it buys a licence that expires with your National Registry year rather than a fixed term. Cash and personal cheques are refused. The GAPS fingerprint fee is separate and set by the vendor, not published here.
How long will Georgia take to process my application?
Not established in the cited source
Georgia publishes no processing time. The only published clock runs the other way: an incomplete application expires 45 days after OEMST receives it, and the applicant then loses the fee, the application and the background check and starts again.
What background check does Georgia require, and how do I do it from out of state?
GAPS is a GBI service, so the check is state-level with an FBI fingerprint component; DPH refuses any report the applicant supplies from another source. The vendor's fee is not published on this page. The ordering constraint is the scheduling trap: fee, then GAPS approval, then fingerprints — three serial waits, none of them with a published duration.
All applicants MUST use the Georgia Applicant Processing Service ( GAPS ) for the submission of your fingerprint-based criminal history records check.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Can I start working in Georgia before full approval?
Yes
Narrow, and probably not the one you want: the only provisional licence Georgia offers is EMT-Responder for military medical personnel honourably discharged within the past 12 months who also reside in Georgia. There is no general temporary permit for a civilian traveller waiting on a licence.
This is the application where you can apply for a provisional license as an EMT Responder (EMT-R) and is only valid for 1 year from the date issued.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Does my National Registry have to be current to apply in Georgia?
Yes
Current, not merely once-held. An expired out-of-state licence plus a lapsed Registry leaves no pathway at all short of retesting.
However, to apply for a Georgia license you are required to have a current NREMT registration and submit an online application with the required documents listed above.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
The renewal clock and what it costs in hours.
0 of 7 answered from a source · 7 written up as absences
How often do I recert in Georgia?
Not yet verified
Not attempted in the spine pass. Georgia publishes its recertification and CE terms inside the License Management System rather than on a public page, so anything the EMS Personnel Licensure page does not state has not been established.
How many CE hours does Georgia want, and in what?
Not yet verified
Not attempted in the spine pass. Georgia publishes its recertification and CE terms inside the License Management System rather than on a public page, so anything the EMS Personnel Licensure page does not state has not been established.
Can I use NCCP hours to recert in Georgia, or does it want its own?
Not yet verified
Not attempted in the spine pass. Georgia publishes its recertification and CE terms inside the License Management System rather than on a public page, so anything the EMS Personnel Licensure page does not state has not been established.
What does Georgia require at renewal that other states do not?
Not yet verified
Not attempted in the spine pass. Georgia publishes its recertification and CE terms inside the License Management System rather than on a public page, so anything the EMS Personnel Licensure page does not state has not been established.
Does Georgia make me take a refresher course to recert?
Not yet verified
Not attempted in the spine pass. Georgia publishes its recertification and CE terms inside the License Management System rather than on a public page, so anything the EMS Personnel Licensure page does not state has not been established.
My Georgia cert expired — can I still get it back?
Not yet verified
Not attempted in the spine pass. Georgia publishes its recertification and CE terms inside the License Management System rather than on a public page, so anything the EMS Personnel Licensure page does not state has not been established.
Where do I find CE that Georgia will accept?
Not yet verified
Not attempted in the spine pass. Georgia publishes its recertification and CE terms inside the License Management System rather than on a public page, so anything the EMS Personnel Licensure page does not state has not been established.
Where a service record shortens the path.
3 of 4 answered from a source · 1 written up as absences
Does Georgia have a faster route for military training or veterans?
Yes
Provisional EMT-Responder Licensure for Recently Discharged Military Personnel
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
What does Georgia's military pathway actually get me?
A provisional EMT-Responder licence, valid one year from issue, for Army Medics, Air Force Medical Technicians, and Navy or Coast Guard Corpsmen honourably discharged within the past 12 months who reside in Georgia. Requires a DD214, a notarised Verification of Lawful U.S. Residency form, and a $25 fee. Converting to a permanent licence at any level means meeting the ordinary requirements in full, National Registry included.
The residency condition makes this useless to a traveller: it is a route for veterans settling in Georgia, not a mobility provision. Georgia separately recognises USSOCOM Advanced Tactical Paramedic certification for Paramedic applicants coming from the military, which is the more useful provision for someone already Registry-certified.
This application is ONLY for those military medical personnel (Medic in the United States Army, Medical Technician in the United States Air Force, or Corpsman in the United States Navy or Coast Guard) who have been honorably discharged within the past 12 months in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 31-11-53 AND reside in GA.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Where does Georgia document its military pathway?
Partly supported
There is no separate military page; the provision is a section of the general personnel licensure page and the application lives in LMS.
Applicants must complete the Provisional EMT-Responder License Application - Military application in the OEMST License Management System
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Does Georgia extend its military pathway to spouses?
Not established in the cited source
The personnel licensure page addresses discharged service members only and says nothing about military spouses. Georgia may carry a spouse provision in general occupational licensing law outside the EMS rules; that has not been checked.
DEA rewrote the narcotics rules for EMS in February 2026. Registration moved from the medical director to the agency itself, and the rule spells out storage, restocking and standing-order administration. These rules are federal and read the same in every state.
10 federal facts, quoted from the Federal Register · 2 of 2 Georgia facts answered from state law
What changed, and when did it take effect?
The DEA final rule implementing the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act of 2017 (PPAEMA). It amends 21 CFR parts 1300, 1301, 1304 and following to create the EMS agency registration and the storage, delivery and recordkeeping rules below.
Who holds the DEA registration an ambulance operates under?
Before this rule most services ran narcotics under their medical director's practitioner registration. The registration now belongs to the agency, as its own DEA business-activity category.
the Act directs the Attorney General (and thus the Administrator) to allow a registered EMS agency to obtain a single registration for each State in which the EMS agency administers controlled substances, rather than requiring the agency to obtain a separate registration for each location at which it operates within that State.
Does one DEA registration cover operating in another state?
The fact that matters most to a traveler: compact privilege can carry your licence across a border, but it does not carry your agency's DEA registration. An agency running trucks in two states registers twice.
EMS agencies that wish to operate in multiple States must register with DEA in each State in which they operate.
Can a medic administer controlled substances without the medical director present?
Federal law now says yes, but only where state law agrees: EMS professionals are only allowed to make such administrations if authorized by State law. Whether your state's law does is the per-state question at the end of this section.
the Act allows emergency medical services professionals to administer controlled substances outside the physical presence of a medical director or authorizing medical professional pursuant to a valid standing or verbal order.
How do narcotics have to be stored in the vehicle?
EMS vehicles storing controlled substances must be locked when parked outside of an enclosed registered or designated location, with the controlled substances stored in a securely locked, substantially constructed cabinet or safe that cannot be readily removed.
Does a hospital-based agency need its own registration?
Hospital-based means owned or operated by a hospital. If you work for a hospital service, the drug box stays on the hospital's paper.
The CSA, as amended by the Act, expressly allows hospital-based EMS agencies to operate under the hospital's registration rather than obtaining their own separate registration.
Can the truck restock controlled substances from a hospital?
the Act allows non-hospital-based EMS agencies to receive controlled substances from a hospital for the purpose of restocking an EMS vehicle following an emergency response.
What does the DEA registration cost an agency?
this rule reflects the current fee of $888 so that, as intended, the fee for EMS registrants is the same as that for other dispensers of controlled substances.
Do municipal and fire-based services pay the fee?
Even if the EMS agency is not operated by a government fire department, if the EMS agency itself is operated by the local government, it would also be exempt from application fees.
When does an existing service have to move to the new registration?
DEA recommends agencies contact their local field office to complete the transition.
The three options for EMS agencies to transition are: (1) transition immediately on the effective date established by DEA; (2) transition at the expiration of their current registration; or (3) transition three to six months prior to their renewal date.
Does Georgia law let a medic push scheduled drugs on standing orders, the way the DEA rule assumes?
Partly supported
Georgia states the standing-order authority plainly and puts three conditions on it — training and certification for the specific medication, credentialing for it by the local EMS Agency Medical Director, and working as a member of a licensed EMS agency. The document names medications generally rather than controlled substances specifically, which is why the quote is marked partial; the word 'controlled substance' does not appear in the 2025 Scope of Practice at all. Georgia's administrative rules for EMS (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 511-9-2) were not quoted because rules.sos.ga.gov returned HTTP 403 to every fetch on 2026-08-13.
In Georgia, EMS personnel are authorized to perform skills and administer medications within the scope of practice for their licensure level following standing, verbal, or written orders.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Does Georgia require its own controlled-substance registration for EMS agencies?
Partly supported
Read this as 'a different state layer, not no state layer'. The Department of Public Health's agency licensure checklist enumerates the drug-related conditions for licensure — a signed Pharmacy Agreement for each pharmacy, pharmacy policies and procedures under O.C.G.A. § 26-4-116, and a formulary approved and signed by the Medical Director — and none of them is a controlled-substance registration issued to the EMS agency. Georgia's registration statute points the same way: O.C.G.A. § 16-13-35(a) attaches annual State Board of Pharmacy registration to anyone who 'manufactures, distributes, or dispenses' a controlled substance, which is not what an EMS crew does when it administers under a physician's order, and § 16-13-35(c)(4) expressly exempts '(4) Officers and employees of this state, or of a political subdivision of this state, or of the United States while acting in the course of their official duties' — covering county and municipal EMS but not, on its face, a private ambulance service. Confidence is medium because that private-agency gap is unresolved and because the Board of Pharmacy's own registration chapter (480-20) sits on rules.sos.ga.gov, which returned HTTP 403 to every fetch on 2026-08-13.
A Pharmacy is also required for EMS Agencies that will have any medications or IV fluids, and the Pharmacy and Pharmacist must be currently licensed in the State of Georgia.
dph.georgia.gov · State EMS office
Questions not yet settled from a primary source.
What are Georgia's recertification cycle, CE hours, and NCCP position? All renewal requirements are stated to live inside the License Management System, behind an account, and no public DPH page states them.
opened 9 Aug 2026 · blocks recertification.cycle_years, recertification.ce_hours, recertification.nccp_accepted
Which DPH rule chapter governs EMS personnel licensure — 511-9 is the presumed home, but no DPH page cited on this record names it. The only statute Georgia cites on the personnel page is the military provisional provision.
opened 9 Aug 2026 · blocks regulator.authority_citation, licensure.criminal_history_bars
Does a Georgia EMT-Responder licence carry the same scope as a National Registry EMR, or does the renamed tier also differ in practice? A traveller entering at EMR level needs the scope answer, not just the title.
opened 9 Aug 2026 · blocks licensure.levels