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 West Virginia, 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 West Virginia, and practises under a physician medical director. Confidence is medium and quote_supports is partial because this is the Commission speaking nationally, not West Virginia speaking about West Virginia. It is reversed for anyone who already holds a West Virginia 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.
Blocks practice
West Virginia requires continuous National Registry certification, or an NREMT State Licensed Only account, throughout the life of the state certification. A lapse suspends the West Virginia certification and the right to practise immediately.
Most states treat a lapsed Registry as a renewal problem to sort out at renewal. West Virginia treats it as an immediate suspension, which makes the Registry expiry date the operative date for a traveller working here. quote_supports is partial: the quote establishes the continuous-maintenance requirement; the immediate-suspension consequence is stated elsewhere in WVOEMS material that was not directly quoted.
State EMS office · dhhr.wv.gov · verified 9 Aug 2026
It is the individual's responsibility to ensure that they maintain their NREMT certification or NREMT SLO account every two years.
dhhr.wv.gov · State EMS office
Adds a requirement
National Registry recertification runs every two years, and a State Education Tracking System application must be filed every four years on top of it.
They do not align, so in one cycle out of two a provider files both. Missing the four-year SETS filing is the failure mode for someone who has kept Registry current and assumes that is all West Virginia wants.
State EMS office · dhhr.wv.gov · verified 9 Aug 2026
NREMT Certification Application is in addition to an individual's requirement to submit their State Education Tracking System (SETS) application every four years.
dhhr.wv.gov · State EMS office
The office that issues the card, and the law it issues it under.
4 of 5 answered from a source · 1 written up as absences
Who actually issues an EMS licence in West Virginia?
West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services (WVOEMS)
Partly supported
The page is WVOEMS's own personnel licensure page but does not spell the office name out in prose; the name is from the site's branding and the National Registry directory.
EMS Personnel Licensure National Registry Of Emergency Medical Services (NREMT) Certification
dhhr.wv.gov · State EMS office
Where is West Virginia's EMS licensing office online?
Partly supported
Derived from the personnel licensure page's own path rather than from a page that names the office's home URL. dhhr.wv.gov also refuses some automated clients intermittently, so this link should be re-checked.
Where do I actually submit an application in West Virginia?
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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Who do I call or email about West Virginia licensure?
(304) 558-3956
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 West Virginia?
West Virginia Legislative Rule Title 64, Series 48
Partly supported
Named in WVOEMS's own navigation. The rule text was not read.
Levels, term, and what your National Registry does and does not buy you.
2 of 6 answered from a source · 4 written up as absences
What levels does West Virginia issue, and what does my cert become there?
Emergency Medical Responder
Advanced Care Technician
Paramedic
Mobile Critical Care Nurse
State Licensed Only (SLO)
Weakly supported
Reconstructed from WVOEMS's scope-of-practice navigation and the RN and SLO provisions on the same page, not from a published list of levels. Confidence is low: EMT almost certainly exists as a level and does not appear in that navigation, so this list is probably incomplete and should be replaced from Title 64 Series 48.
Emergency Medical Responder Scope of Practice Advanced Care Technician Scope of Practice Paramedic Scope of Practice
dhhr.wv.gov · State EMS office
How long does a West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Do I need National Registry to get licensed in West Virginia?
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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Do I have to keep National Registry current to keep a West Virginia licence?
Yes
West Virginia is unusually blunt about the consequence: losing National Registry suspends the state certification immediately. Note the alternative is not 'no Registry' but a State Licensed Only account administered by the Registry — so even the state-only track runs through NREMT's system and its two-year clock.
It is the individual's responsibility to ensure that they maintain their NREMT certification or NREMT SLO account every two years.
dhhr.wv.gov · State EMS office
Does West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What criminal history bars me from licensure in West Virginia?
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 West Virginia'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 West Virginia?
Partly supported
These are the Commission's national conditions, not a West Virginia statement. Whether West Virginia imposes anything further has not been established from a West Virginia 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 West Virginia?
Not established in the cited source
No West Virginia 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 West Virginia rule.
When do I need full West Virginia licensure instead of privilege?
Not established in the cited source
Not stated by West Virginia or by the Commission for West Virginia 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia, and practises under a physician medical director. Confidence is medium and quote_supports is partial because this is the Commission speaking nationally, not West Virginia speaking about West Virginia. It is reversed for anyone who already holds a West Virginia 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia add anything on top of the compact?
Not yet verified
Whether West Virginia 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 West Virginia?
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 West Virginia passed the EMS Compact into law?
Nothing recorded
Current EMS Compact Commissioner page identifies West Virginia's enacted Compact law and reports 2020-03-05 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. Existing NREMT disagreement remains unadjudicated; this source establishes enacted state law but does not resolve the NREMT listing conflict.
Source conflict — unresolved
REPLICA/EMS Compact Non-Compact State
nremt.org says otherwise.
The National Registry's State EMS Offices directory labels West Virginia a Non-Compact State, while the Compact Commission publishes West Virginia's enacting statute with an effective date and lists it on the NEMSCD integration table. Both are primary sources for different things; the Commission is the authority on its own membership, but this needs a human ruling rather than a silent preference.
In West Virginia, the REPLICA legislation was signed into law on March 5, 2020, making West Virginia the 18th state to enact the EMS Compact.
emscompact.gov · EMS Compact Commission
Is West Virginia's compact law actually in effect yet?
The West Virginia Legislature's completed-legislation record gives HB 4179's effective date as May 17, 2020. The signed enrolled act states it was passed February 17, 2020 and took effect ninety days from passage; it also contains the Compact's separate tenth-member-state activation trigger. That trigger is distinct from West Virginia's state-law effective date.
HB 4179 Recognition of Emergency Medical Services Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact Chapter 278, Acts, Regular Session, 2020 Effective Ninety Days from Passage - (May 17, 2020)
wvlegislature.gov · State legislature
Can my Privilege to Practice actually be verified in West Virginia?
The Commission's state-specific Commissioner page identifies West Virginia 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.
✅ West Virginia 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 West Virginia recognise my out-of-state certification at all?
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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Where do I start a reciprocity application for West Virginia?
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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does it cost to get licensed in West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
How long will West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What background check does West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Can I start working in West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Does my National Registry have to be current to apply in West Virginia?
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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
The renewal clock and what it costs in hours.
2 of 7 answered from a source · 5 written up as absences
How often do I recert in West Virginia?
2
Partly supported
Two years is the recertification clock the page states, but it states it as the National Registry cycle rather than as a West Virginia licence term. West Virginia layers a separate four-year State Education Tracking System filing on top of it, so a provider is on two clocks at once.
It is the individual's responsibility to ensure that they maintain their NREMT certification or NREMT SLO account every two years.
dhhr.wv.gov · State EMS office
How many CE hours does West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Can I use NCCP hours to recert in West Virginia, 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does West Virginia require at renewal that other states do not?
Two overlapping cycles on different periods is the kind of thing that catches a provider who assumes keeping Registry current is sufficient. 'In addition to' is the state's own wording.
NREMT Certification Application is in addition to an individual's requirement to submit their State Education Tracking System (SETS) application every four years.
dhhr.wv.gov · State EMS office
Does West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
My West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Where do I find CE that West Virginia 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 West Virginia'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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
What does West Virginia'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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Where does West Virginia 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 West Virginia's own EMS office pages have not been read.
Does West Virginia 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 West Virginia'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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia law let a medic push scheduled drugs on standing orders, the way the DEA rule assumes?
Partly supported
The 'and/or' is what makes this a standing-order authorization: written protocols alone suffice, and the same page confirms the protocols carry medications ('Certified EMTs may perform all procedures and administer all medications contained in the current 6000 Series WV EMS System Protocols'). The page does not use the phrase 'controlled substances', and the underlying legislative rule 64 CSR 48 could not be quoted directly — the Secretary of State serves every version of that rule as an image-only PDF with no text layer, so neither our checker nor pdftotext can read it.
Procedures listed must be authorized by duly engaged physician medical directors and must be performed according to written and published protocols and/or direct voice communication with a medical command center.
dhhr.wv.gov · State EMS office
Does West Virginia require its own controlled-substance registration for EMS agencies?
Conflicting or incomplete source information
W. Va. Code § 60A-3-302(a) requires 'Every person who manufactures, distributes, or dispenses any controlled substance within this state' to register annually with the state Board of Pharmacy, and § 60A-3-302(c)(2) exempts 'a person in possession of any controlled substance pursuant to a lawful order of a practitioner.' Which side of that line an EMS agency's drug box falls on is exactly what the statute does not say, and no West Virginia authority we could retrieve resolves it: the Office of EMS publishes nothing on agency drug registration, legislative rule 64 CSR 48 is served only as image-only PDFs with no text layer, and the Board of Pharmacy publishes at wvbop.com, a non-governmental host our source policy does not accept. Recorded ambiguous rather than guessed.
Questions not yet settled from a primary source.
The National Registry's State EMS Offices directory labels West Virginia a Non-Compact State, while the Compact Commission publishes WV Code § 16-60-1 with an effective date of 5 March 2020 and lists West Virginia as submitting data to NEMSCD. Which is stale, and does WVOEMS say anything itself about privilege to practise?
opened 9 Aug 2026 · blocks compact.enacted, compact.privilege.state_specific_restrictions
What is West Virginia's actual list of certification levels? The scope-of-practice navigation names EMR, Advanced Care Technician and Paramedic but no EMT, which cannot be right. Title 64 Series 48 should settle it.
opened 9 Aug 2026 · blocks licensure.levels
What does an out-of-state provider have to do to get a West Virginia certification — application, fee, background check, processing time? The personnel licensure page covers maintenance, not entry.
opened 9 Aug 2026 · blocks reciprocity.pathway_exists, reciprocity.requirements, reciprocity.fee, reciprocity.background_check