Indiana

Licensing authority

Who actually issues an EMS licence in Indiana?

Indiana Department of Homeland Security, EMS Division (Indiana EMS Commission)

Partly supported

Indiana is one of the states that runs EMS out of homeland security rather than health — the pages live under in.gov/dhs. The EMS Commission owns the rules (IAC Title 836) while the EMS Division administers certification; the page names the Division but not the parent department in prose.

Authority website

Where is Indiana's EMS licensing office online?

in.gov

Partly supported

The /dhs/ems/ hub is the durable entry point; individual-certifications is where the content is.

Licensing portal

Where do I actually submit an application in Indiana?

in.gov

Partly supported

Everything runs through Acadis WebForms behind a login, so the durable public link is the instructions page rather than the portal. Acadis is separately listed by the EMS Compact Commission as a NEMSCD-compliant vendor system.

Contact

Who do I call or email about Indiana licensure?

emscertifications@dhs.in.gov / 317-234-7322

Governing law

Which statute or rule governs EMS licensure in Indiana?

Indiana Administrative Code Title 836 (EMS Commission rules)

Certification levels

What levels does Indiana issue, and what does my cert become there?

• Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)

  Maps to

  EMR

  State-only

  No

  Notes

  No initial application for Indiana-trained EMRs — the course Report of Training serves as the application. Out-of-state EMRs use the reciprocity application.

• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

  Maps to

  EMT

  State-only

  No

  Notes

  The EMT psychomotor exam is an Indiana practical exam, not the National Registry one. The cognitive exam is the NREMT EMT exam.

• Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT)

  Maps to

  AEMT

  State-only

  No

  Notes

  Both cognitive and psychomotor exams go through NREMT.

• Paramedic

  Maps to

  Paramedic

  State-only

  No

  Notes

  Both cognitive and psychomotor exams go through NREMT.

• Primary Instructor

  Maps to

  none

  State-only

  Yes

  Notes

  Indiana-specific written examination administered at Ivy Tech testing centres.

• Emergency Vehicle Operator Certification (EVOC)

  Maps to

  none

  State-only

  Yes

  Notes

  A certification with its own application and renewal/CE report, not a patient-care level.

Partly supported

The level list is reconstructed from the application index on this page, where each level has its own initial, renewal and reciprocity forms. The quote is the title of Indiana's own quick-reference document, which was not opened — so confidence is medium and this claim should be replaced with one sourced from that reference. The EMT psychomotor split is worth noting: Indiana runs its own practical exam at EMT level while deferring to NREMT above it.

Conditions for privilege

What do I have to satisfy for compact privilege to apply in Indiana?

• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Hold a current, unrestricted license in at least one EMS Compact participating state at an eligible EMS level.
• Affiliate with an EMS agency in the remote state that provides EMS medical direction.
• Adhere to the Commission's Professional Code of Conduct and follow the remote state's scope of practice, protocols, and laws.

Partly supported

These are the Commission's national conditions, not a Indiana statement. Whether Indiana imposes anything further has not been established from a Indiana source — see compact.privilege.state_specific_restrictions.

Can I take a contract on privilege alone

Can I work a 13-week contract in Indiana on my home-state licence?

Only with the hiring agency’s cooperation

Overrides the Commission's national default for Indiana specifically. Privilege does cover a 13-week contract here — no separate Indiana certification is needed — but it does not attach to you, it attaches to the pairing of you and a particular Indiana-certified organisation whose medical director signs off, after you have obtained a PSID and filed the PTP registration. If the agency will not sponsor the registration, the privilege is worthless in Indiana. Confidence is high because Indiana states the requirement itself, on its own site, in its own words.

If you already hold a licence here

I have an old or inactive Indiana card — can I still use compact privilege here?

A licence here forfeits privilege

Yes

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.

Extra state requirements

Does Indiana add anything on top of the compact?

• You must register with the EMS Division on the 'EMS Provider Using EMS Compact Privilege to Practice (PTP)' form before working in Indiana on privilege — privilege is not self-executing here
• You must have an affiliating Indiana state-certified EMS organisation
• That organisation's medical director must approve you, and the approval is what confers authorisation to practise in Indiana
• You must first obtain an Indiana Public Safety Identification (PSID) number, before the PTP registration can be submitted

This is the most consequential state-specific compact finding in the corpus so far, and it is exactly the kind of thing the Commission's national material does not mention. Indiana treats privilege as something you register for and are authorised into, with a named form, a prerequisite state ID number, and a named approver. A medic who arrives assuming privilege attaches automatically on landing will be working unauthorised.

Verify privilege

Where does an employer verify my privilege for Indiana?

emscompact.gov

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.

Compact law enacted

Has Indiana passed the EMS Compact into law?

Status

Yes

Enacted

Nothing recorded

Citation

Indiana Code § 16-31.5-1-1

Current EMS Compact Commissioner page identifies Indiana's enacted Compact law and reports 2020-03-11 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.

Compact law in force

Is Indiana's compact law actually in effect yet?

Status

Yes

Effective

2020-07-01

Partly supported

Indiana DHS legislative update explicitly separates Public Law status on March 11, 2020 from the July 1, 2020 effective date. The update does not establish whether the act contains a delayed implementation clause.

Connected to NEMSCD

Can my Privilege to Practice actually be verified in Indiana?

Status

Yes

The Commission's state-specific Commissioner page identifies Indiana 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.

Reciprocity available

Will Indiana recognise my out-of-state certification at all?

Yes

Indiana publishes a distinct Reciprocity Application and a Verification of EMS Status for Reciprocity form at every level from EMR to Paramedic.

What it is called

What does Indiana call its out-of-state pathway?

Reciprocity Application

Partly supported

Named by the forms rather than as a branded programme. The paired Verification of EMS Status form is the part your current state has to complete.

Where to apply

Where do I start a reciprocity application for Indiana?

in.gov

Applications are filed as Acadis WebForms behind a login; this page is the index that names which form to use per level.

What you must provide

What does Indiana require from an out-of-state applicant?

• Reciprocity Application for your level, filed as an Acadis WebForm

  Detail

  Separate forms exist for EMR, EMT, AEMT and Paramedic.

• Verification of EMS Status for Reciprocity

  Detail

  A companion form your current licensing state completes.

• Indiana Public Safety Identification (PSID) number

  Detail

  Indiana's own identifier, applied for separately from certification.

• Social Security number recorded in Acadis

  Detail

  Now collected from all licensees and applicants for identity verification in the National EMS Coordinated Database; only the last four digits are displayed.

Partly supported

Reconstructed from the application index and the Acadis and PSID instructions on the same page. The forms themselves were not opened, so the substantive requirements inside them — exams, CE, background check, fees — are not captured here. Confidence is medium accordingly.

If your licence lapses

My Indiana cert expired — can I still get it back?

Within 120 days

Submit the continuing education/renewal form plus a $50 reapplication fee, provided the in-service CE was completed before expiry.

Over 120 days

File a full certification/licensure application through Acadis WebForms, as an initial or reciprocity applicant would.

The 120-day cliff is sharp and the CE timing matters as much as the deadline: the cheap route requires that the CE was finished BEFORE the certification expired, not merely before you file. Miss either condition and you are back at the full application.

The rule and its clock

What changed, and when did it take effect?

Citation

91 FR 5216

Published

2026-02-05

Effective

2026-03-09

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.

The agency holds the registration now

Who holds the DEA registration an ambulance operates under?

Status

Yes

Category

Emergency Medical Services Agency

Scope

one registration per state covers every location the agency operates in that state

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.

Crossing state lines with the drug box

Does one DEA registration cover operating in another state?

Status

No

Detail

a separate DEA registration is required in each state the agency operates in

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.

Pushing narcotics on standing orders

Can a medic administer controlled substances without the medical director present?

Status

Yes

Conditions

authorized by state law, under a valid standing or verbal order that meets the statutory conditions

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.

Storage on the truck

How do narcotics have to be stored in the vehicle?

Locked vehicle

Yes

Container

securely locked, substantially constructed cabinet or safe that cannot be readily removed

Hospital-run services

Does a hospital-based agency need its own registration?

Status

No

Detail

may keep operating under the hospital's 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.

Restocking at the hospital

Can the truck restock controlled substances from a hospital?

Status

Yes

Detail

non-hospital-based agencies may receive controlled substances from a hospital to restock after an emergency response

What registration costs

What does the DEA registration cost an agency?

Amount

888

Per

three-year registration period

Government services pay nothing

Do municipal and fire-based services pay the fee?

Status

No

Detail

agencies operated by a state or local government are exempt from application fees

The switch-over window

When does an existing service have to move to the new registration?

Options

• immediately on the effective date
• at the expiration of the current registration
• three to six months before the renewal date

DEA recommends agencies contact their local field office to complete the transition.

Standing orders under state law

Does Indiana law let a medic push scheduled drugs on standing orders, the way the DEA rule assumes?

Status

Yes

Citation

IDHS/EMS Commission State Form 56080, §J (Medical Control) and §K (Medications), issued under IC 16-31

Detail

Indiana certifies an ALS provider organization only on proof of protocols and a drug list approved, signed and dated by its medical director, which is the mechanism under which its crews carry and give scheduled drugs.

Partly supported

The operative rule text is 836 IAC (EMS Commission) and IC 16-31, and Indiana publishes both only through script-only viewers (iar.iga.in.gov, iga.in.gov) that our fetcher cannot read; iac.iga.in.gov's article PDFs return HTML. The quote is from the state's own certification application, which is what Indiana actually enforces, but it establishes protocol-based medical control generally rather than naming controlled substances or the absence of the physician. IDHS's own PPAEMA guide adds 'Your EMS Medical Director will still be integral to the protocols and guidelines for the use/administration of these substances.' Confidence stays medium until 836 IAC can be quoted from a fetchable primary host.

A state registration on top of DEA's

Does Indiana require its own controlled-substance registration for EMS agencies?

Status

Yes

Registration name

Controlled Substance Registration (CSR)

Issuer

Indiana Board of Pharmacy (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency)

Detail

Since 25 August 2021 Indiana requires every EMS provider organization not owned or operated by a hospital to hold a state CSR, which must be granted before the agency can apply for its DEA registration.

The Board of Pharmacy rule itself is 856 IAC 2-3-4.5, which Indiana publishes only on the script-only IARP viewer; this implementation guide is the state EMS office describing the rule it operates under, and it is explicit that only hospital-owned EMS organizations may ride on the hospital's existing CSR.