There are several types of emergency medical services (EMS) providers licensed by the Department of Health (DOH), including emergency medical technicians (EMTs), advanced EMTs, and paramedics.

Applicants for certification as EMS providers must meet minimum education and training requirements and be recommended for certification by the physician medical program director of the county in which the applicant will be working.  Applicants must also be associated with a licensed aid or ambulance service, a law enforcement agency, a business with an organized industrial safety team, or senior EMS instructors or coordinators teaching at emergency service training programs who are unable to be associated with another approved entity.

Certified EMS providers are only authorized to provide patient care when performing in a prehospital emergency setting or during interfacility ambulance transport, for a licensed EMS agency or an organization recognized by the Secretary of Health, and within a scope of care that meets defined criteria.

An EMT is a person who is authorized by the Secretary of Health to render emergency medical care or, under the supervision and direction of an approved medical program director, to participate an emergency services supervisory organization or a community assistance referral and education services program.

In 2020 the DOH adopted a policy statement regarding EMS providers and emergency vaccinations.  In compliance with the EMS scope of practice, the DOH authorized EMTs to administer vaccines under certain conditions when there is a state or local declaration of emergency.

Provisional Emergency Services Provider Certification.

A provisional emergency services provider certification is created to be issued by the Department of Health (DOH).  To be eligible for a provisional emergency services provider certification, an applicant must: 

• be currently licensed or certified in another state and be in good standing with the emergency medical services (EMS) board of that state or hold a current EMS provider certification from a national certifying agency approved by the DOH; 
• be employed or have a valid employment offer from a Washington EMS agency; and 
• be approved for provisional status from the medical program director of the county in which the applicant is or will be employed.

The number of persons holding a provisional emergency services provider certification an employer or host agency may employ is limited as follows: 

• If the employer or host agency has fewer than 25 employees holding an emergency medical technician (EMT) or paramedic credential, up to 20 percent of those employees, rounded to the next whole number, may practice under a provisional emergency services provider certification.
• If the employer or host agency has 25 or more employees holding an EMT or paramedic credential, up to 10 percent of those employees, rounded to the next whole number, may practice under a provisional emergency services provider certification.

Collaborative Medical Care.

The 2020 DOH policy allowing EMTs to administer vaccines under certain conditions is codified and expanded to include communicable disease response outside of a state of emergency.

The definition of "emergency medical technician" is modified to allow EMTs to provide collaborative medical care.  Collaborative medical care means medical treatment and care provided pursuant to agreements with local, regional, or state public health agencies to control and prevent the spread of communicable diseases, which is rendered separately from emergency medical service.  The provision of collaborative medical care may not exceed the EMT's training and certification.