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 Tennessee, 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 Tennessee, and practises under a physician medical director. Confidence is medium and quote_supports is partial because this is the Commission speaking nationally, not Tennessee speaking about Tennessee. It is reversed for anyone who already holds a Tennessee 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 office that issues the card, and the law it issues it under.
2 of 5 answered from a source · 3 written up as absences
Who actually issues an EMS licence in Tennessee?
Tennessee Office of EMS
Partly supported
Name as published in the National Registry's State EMS Offices directory, which is the Registry reporting what Tennessee told it rather than Tennessee naming itself on its own site. Replace with a claim sourced from the state's own page when that page is read.
Where is Tennessee's EMS licensing office online?
Source unavailable
tn.gov does not respond at all from this network — not a 403, not a redirect, no TLS handshake completes — so neither the EMS Board's licensure pages nor its published Reciprocity PDF could be retrieved. Everything currently in this record about Tennessee comes from national sources. This needs a retrieval attempt from a different network or a browser session before Tennessee can be treated as researched.
Where do I actually submit an application in Tennessee?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Who do I call or email about Tennessee licensure?
(615) 741-2584
Partly supported
From the National Registry's State EMS Offices directory, which carries the Registry's own warning: 'Information provided on this page is for convenience. Always verify information directly with the State EMS Office.'
Which statute or rule governs EMS licensure in Tennessee?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Levels, term, and what your National Registry does and does not buy you.
0 of 6 answered from a source · 6 written up as absences
What levels does Tennessee issue, and what does my cert become there?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
How long does a Tennessee licence last before renewal?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Do I need National Registry to get licensed in Tennessee?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Do I have to keep National Registry current to keep a Tennessee licence?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Does Tennessee make me sit its own exam?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What criminal history bars me from licensure in Tennessee?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
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 Tennessee?
Partly supported
These are the Commission's national conditions, not a Tennessee statement. Whether Tennessee imposes anything further has not been established from a Tennessee 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 Tennessee?
Not established in the cited source
No Tennessee 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 Tennessee rule.
When do I need full Tennessee licensure instead of privilege?
Not established in the cited source
Not stated by Tennessee or by the Commission for Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee, and practises under a physician medical director. Confidence is medium and quote_supports is partial because this is the Commission speaking nationally, not Tennessee speaking about Tennessee. It is reversed for anyone who already holds a Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee add anything on top of the compact?
Not yet verified
Whether Tennessee imposes registration, notification, a fee, or a medical-director attestation on privilege holders has not been established. The state's own administrative code has not been read for compact provisions, and silence on the state EMS office's public pages is not evidence of absence.
Where does an employer verify my privilege for Tennessee?
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 Tennessee passed the EMS Compact into law?
Nothing recorded
Current EMS Compact Commissioner page identifies Tennessee's enacted Compact law and reports 2016-04-19 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 Tennessee, the REPLICA legislation was signed into law on April 19, 2016, making Tennessee the seventh state to enact the EMS Compact.
emscompact.gov · EMS Compact Commission
Is Tennessee's compact law actually in effect yet?
Partly supported
The official bill history distinguishes rulemaking authority effective upon enactment from the act’s July 1, 2016 effective date for other purposes, and expressly conditions Compact implementation on enactment by 10 states. The prior April 19, 2016 date is the Governor’s signature date, not the act’s general effective date. The Compact’s in-force status is now true; database integration and contract eligibility remain separate.
This bill will take effect upon becoming a law for purposes of authorizing the Tennessee emergency medical services board to promulgate any rules that are necessary to effectuate this bill, and July 1, 2016, for all other purposes but the compact will not take effect until passage of the compact into law by 10 states.
wapp.capitol.tn.gov · State legislature
Can my Privilege to Practice actually be verified in Tennessee?
The Commission's state-specific Commissioner page identifies Tennessee 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.
✅ Tennessee is fully integrated with NEMSCD
emscompact.gov · EMS Compact Commission
The route in when privilege does not cover you.
0 of 9 answered from a source · 9 written up as absences
Will Tennessee recognise my out-of-state certification at all?
Source unavailable
Tennessee publishes a Reciprocity document at tn.gov and requires reciprocity applications to be filed electronically through its licensing system, but the host is unreachable from here so nothing about the pathway has been verified against a primary source.
What does Tennessee call its out-of-state pathway?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Where do I start a reciprocity application for Tennessee?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does Tennessee require from an out-of-state applicant?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does it cost to get licensed in Tennessee from out of state?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
How long will Tennessee take to process my application?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What background check does Tennessee require, and how do I do it from out of state?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Can I start working in Tennessee before full approval?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Does my National Registry have to be current to apply in Tennessee?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
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 Tennessee?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
How many CE hours does Tennessee want, and in what?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Can I use NCCP hours to recert in Tennessee, or does it want its own?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does Tennessee require at renewal that other states do not?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Does Tennessee make me take a refresher course to recert?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
My Tennessee cert expired — can I still get it back?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Where do I find CE that Tennessee will accept?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Where a service record shortens the path.
0 of 4 answered from a source · 4 written up as absences
Does Tennessee have a faster route for military training or veterans?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does Tennessee's military pathway actually get me?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Where does Tennessee document its military pathway?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Does Tennessee extend its military pathway to spouses?
Not yet verified
Not attempted yet. This record was seeded from the three sources that cover all 51 jurisdictions — the Compact Commission's State Laws and NEMSCD tables and the National Registry's office directory — and Tennessee's own EMS office pages have not been read.
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 · 1 of 2 Tennessee 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 Tennessee law let a medic push scheduled drugs on standing orders, the way the DEA rule assumes?
Unverified
source page unreachable (NaN Oct 2026). The displayed value has not been confirmed as current.
Partly supported
The sentence answers the DEA question by its exception: authorization from Medical Control is required only outside the standing orders, so drugs inside them need none. It does not use the phrase 'controlled substances'. The binding instrument would be Board of EMS rule 1200-12-01 (its rule 1200-12-1-.14 sets out the medical director's functions, per the Board's own ambulance service licence application), but Tennessee publishes its administrative rules only at publications.tnsosfiles.com and its statutes only at advance.lexis.com, neither of which is a governmental host our source policy accepts. Confidence stays medium for that reason. Tennessee's own hosting is unreliable for our fetcher: several tn.gov board pages return 404 or fail outright, and this PDF itself failed to fetch on roughly one attempt in three before succeeding, so a future re-verification failure should be retried before it is read as rot.
For any drug administration or procedures outside these Standing Orders and Protocols, the EMS Provider must receive authorization from Medical Control.
tn.gov · State EMS office
Does Tennessee require its own controlled-substance registration for EMS agencies?
Conflicting or incomplete source information
Tennessee does operate a state controlled substance registration, but nothing retrievable says whether it reaches EMS agencies. The Board of Pharmacy's own licence application reproduces the rule as 'Pursuant to Rule 1140-01-.11: No licensee may obtain, possess, administer, dispense, distribute, or manufacture any controlled substance in this state, and no representative of a manufacturer or wholesaler/distributor may distribute any controlled substance in this state, without obtaining a controlled substance registration from the board' — but chapter 1140-01 governs Board of Pharmacy licensees, and a Tennessee ambulance service is licensed by the Board of Emergency Medical Services instead. Whether 'licensee' reaches across to it is exactly the unanswered question. Checked: the Office of EMS protocol guidelines and the initial ground ambulance service licence application (neither mentions controlled substance registration), the Board of Pharmacy and CSMD pages, and the pharmacy licence application PDFs. The two authorities that would settle it are out of reach — T.C.A. title 53 chapter 11 is published only through advance.lexis.com and the EMS rules only through publications.tnsosfiles.com, and neither is a governmental host. Recorded ambiguous rather than guessed.
Questions not yet settled from a primary source.
tn.gov returns no response to automated retrieval, so the Tennessee EMS Board's licensure pages and its Reciprocity PDF are unverified. Retrieve from a browser session and record the reciprocity requirements, fees and processing time.
opened 9 Aug 2026 · blocks regulator.url, reciprocity.pathway_exists, reciprocity.requirements, reciprocity.fee, licensure.levels