                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CERTIFICATION AND RECERTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PROVIDERS;
APPEALS PROCESS (§ 32.1-111.5)

A. The Board shall prescribe by regulation the qualifications required for
certification of emergency medical services providers, including those
qualifications necessary for authorization to follow Do Not Resuscitate Orders
pursuant to &#xA7; 54.1-2987.1. Such regulations shall include criteria for
determining whether an applicant&#8217;s relevant practical experience and
didactic and clinical components of education and training completed during his
service as a member of any branch of the armed forces of the United States may
be accepted by the Commissioner as evidence of satisfaction of the requirements
for certification.

B. Each person desiring certification as an emergency medical services provider
shall apply to the Commissioner upon a form prescribed by the Board. Upon
receipt of such application, the Commissioner shall cause the applicant to be
examined or otherwise determined to be qualified for certification. When
determining whether an applicant is qualified for certification, the
Commissioner shall consider and may accept relevant practical experience and
didactic and clinical components of education and training completed by an
applicant during his service as a member of any branch of the armed forces of
the United States as evidence of satisfaction of the requirements for
certification. If the Commissioner determines that the applicant meets the
requirements for certification as an emergency medical services provider, he
shall issue a certificate to the applicant. An emergency medical services
provider certificate so issued shall be valid for a period required by law or
prescribed by the Board. Any certificate so issued may be suspended at any time
that the Commissioner determines that the holder no longer meets the
qualifications prescribed for such emergency medical services provider. The
Commissioner may temporarily suspend any certificate without notice, pending a
hearing or informal fact-finding conference, if the Commissioner finds that
there is a substantial danger to public health or safety. When the Commissioner
has temporarily suspended a certificate pending a hearing, the Commissioner
shall seek an expedited hearing in accordance with the Administrative Process
Act (&#xA7; 2.2-4000 et seq.).

C. The Board shall prescribe by regulation procedures and the qualifications
required for the recertification of emergency medical services providers.

D. The Commissioner may issue a temporary certificate when he finds that it is
in the public interest. A temporary certificate shall be valid for a period not
exceeding 90 days.

E. The Board shall require each person who, on or after July 1, 2013, applies to
be a volunteer with or employee of an emergency medical services agency to
submit fingerprints and provide personal descriptive information to be forwarded
along with his fingerprints through the Central Criminal Records Exchange to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, for the purpose of obtaining his criminal
history record information. The Central Criminal Records Exchange shall forward
the results of the state and national records search to the Commissioner or his
designee, who shall be a governmental entity. If an applicant is denied
employment or service as a volunteer because of information appearing on his
criminal history record and the applicant disputes the information upon which
the denial was based, the Central Criminal Records Exchange shall, upon written
request, furnish to the applicant the procedures for obtaining a copy of the
criminal history record from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

F. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection E, an emergency medical services
agency located in a locality having a local ordinance adopted in accordance with
&#xA7;&#xA7; 15.2-1503.1 and 19.2-389 shall require an applicant for employment
or to serve as a volunteer to submit fingerprints and provide personal
descriptive information to be provided directly to the Central Criminal Records
Exchange to be forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the purpose
of obtaining criminal history records information for the applicant. The Central
Criminal Records Exchange shall, upon receipt of an applicant&#8217;s records or
notification that no records exists, forward the results of the state and
national records search to the county, city or town manager or chief
law-enforcement officer for the locality in which the agency is located, or his
designee, who shall be associated with a governmental entity. Upon receipt of
the results of the state and national criminal history records search, the
county, city or town manager or chief law-enforcement officer for the locality,
or his designee, shall notify the Office of Emergency Medical Services regarding
the applicant&#8217;s eligibility for employment or to serve as a volunteer.
Information provided to the Office of Emergency Medical Services shall be
limited to notification as to whether the applicant is eligible for employment
or to serve as a volunteer in accordance with requirements related to
disqualifying offenses set forth in regulations of the Board and shall not
include information regarding whether the applicant has been found ineligible
for employment or to serve as a volunteer due to additional exclusionary
criteria established by the locality. Whenever fingerprints are submitted to
both authorities and it is deemed feasible and practical by the Central Criminal
Records Exchange it shall forward the results of the fingerprint based state and
national records search to the county, city or town manager or chief law
enforcement officer for the locality in which the agency is located, or his
designee, who shall be associated with a governmental entity, and to the Office
of Emergency Medical Services.

HISTORY: 1996, c. 899; 1997, c. 248; 1998, cc. 803, 854; 2008, c. 660; 2011, c.
497; 2013, cc. 72, 176, 331, 407; 2015, cc. 362, 502, 503.