Last reviewed and updated: February 24, 2026

Update: 24 February 2026

EMR & EMT Skills Verification – National Registry (NREMT)

Effective March 1, 2026, Program Directors for Virginia-approved EMR and EMT courses are responsible for marking students as complete for skills verification within the National Registry (NREMT) system.

This change applies to all Virginia-approved EMR and EMT education programs.

What Is Required

Beginning March 1, 2026:

The Program Director must verify and mark students as complete for skills verification directly within the NREMT system.
OEMS will no longer complete this function.
Skills verification must be entered when a student successfully completes all required psychomotor skills.

Failure to enter skills verification in NREMT may delay a student’s ability to test or proceed in the certification process.

Retroactive Application

This requirement applies retroactively.

Education Coordinators (ECs) and Program Directors should review prior EMR and EMT course rosters in the NREMT system and ensure that students who successfully completed required skills have been properly marked as complete.

Correcting past omissions will prevent delays for students seeking testing authorization.

Required Entry Process

To ensure consistency between state and national records, skills verification entry in NREMT should be completed at the same time that:

Student course completion is entered in the NREMT system, and
Student completion is entered in the Virginia OEMS Portal.

Completion should be entered in both systems in unison.

Important

This requirement applies to EMR and EMT programs only.
The designated Program Director is responsible for timely and accurate entry.
Students experiencing delays due to missing skills verification should first contact their Program Director.

Update: 24 February 2026

Educator Role Expiration Extension – 2026

Dear Educator,

The Virginia Office of EMS (OEMS) is announcing that educator roles with expiration dates occurring in 2026 have been extended to the same month and day in 2027.

This extension applies to the following roles:

Education Coordinators (EC)

Education Coordinator Candidates

ALS Coordinators

EMS Education Institution Officials (EOIs)

This extension applies only to the roles listed above and only to those expiring within the stated timeframe. These updates have already been completed and are reflected in your EMS Portal account. No action is required on your part.

Several factors contributed to this decision, including recent staffing transitions within the Accreditation, Certification, and Education Division, the ongoing transition from a previous education platform to a new system, continued work to update and formalize the Education Coordinator Institute curriculum, and sustainability considerations related to workload capacity. This extension allows OEMS to complete these initiatives while maintaining stability and continuity for EMS education programs across the Commonwealth.

OEMS recognizes the time, preparation, and commitment educators invest in maintaining these roles. We appreciate your patience and professionalism as we continue strengthening the Education Institute and Instructor Update processes to ensure long-term success.

OEMS remains committed to supporting your role in EMS education across the Commonwealth.

Respectfully,

Accreditation, Certification and Education Division Staff

Update: 24 June 2024

Implementation of Virginia Continuing Education (CE) Requirements

Virginia has officially adopted the National Continued Competency Program (NCCP) model with some state-specific customizations. For more information on this implementation, click here. Here's the quick take:

Across all three areas, it's the provider's responsibility to participate in relevant, substantive CE that will enable them to recertify with Virginia and the National Registry--if they choose.

The following graphic shows the 2016-2025 Virginia Recertification Requirements by provider level. Please note the requirements are tied to the date of the provider's last Virginia recertification cycle--October 1, 2023 is the key date which determines what CE requirements apply to the provider moving forward. The very first statement you make is:

"Show me your current CE Report."

When a provider comes to you with questions about the new Virginia CE requirements, their CE Report is crucial to the entire process. As far as how the transition will work, look to the two scenarios below.

If the provider recertified in Virginia on or after October 1, 2023:

No earned CE will be lost or removed from your report in the transition.
The CE earned and currently on their Virginia CE Report--from October 1, 2023 forward--will be retroactively transitioned to the new 2025 Virginia Recertification Requirements.
The retroactive reprocessing of their CE to the new 2025 requirements may possibly change the number of hours their have in a specific areas based on the new requirements.
- Please review their Virginia CE Report with them to identify any areas that may be affected and require additional CE to be earned in order to be eligible for recertification in Virginia and with National Registry if applicable.
If the provider is eligible for recertification in Virginia on June 17th, their eligibility will not be lost and they will not be required to complete additional CE based on this change in CE requirements to satisfy their Virginia recertification.
If the provider is National Registry certified and they plan to maintain that certification, they must review their Virginia CE Report against the Registry NCCP 2025 requirements to ensure that they have earned enough CE in the correct areas to satisfy Registry recertification.

If the provider recertified in Virginia before October 1, 2023:

No earned CE will be lost or removed from their report in the transition.
Their Virginia CE Report will not be transitioned and will not change.
They will remain under the 2016 Virginia Recertification Requirements through their next Virginia recertification cycle.
Following their next recertification in Virginia, they will then be required to follow the 2025 Virginia Recertification Requirements.

Please see the chart below to see the hours changes between the 2016 model and the 2025 model--clicking on the image will begin a download of the PDF version of the form.

BLS & ALS Recertification Requirements

New Policy Regarding Enrollment of 15 years in an EMT Course

The following outlines an administrative policy change that went into effect earlier this year pertaining to 15-year-olds being allowed to enroll in an EMT course.

Student Age

All students enrolled in a Basic Life Support (BLS) EMS course shall be at least 16 years of age by the end date of the course as announced to OEMS. Students 15 years of age must apply for a variance before the program begins in order to be considered for eligibility to enroll in the course.

If you have questions, please click here to view the Policy Regarding Enrollment of 15 years in an EMT Course.

New National Registry ALS Certification Exams

IMPORTANT TIMELINES AND INFORMATION

+ The current AEMT and Paramedic cognitive and psychomotor examinations end on June 30, 2024.
+ The new AEMT Certification Examination starts on July 1, 2024 with the new fee of $159.00. One examination - no psychomotor examination required.
+ The new Paramedic Certification Examination starts on July 1, 2024 with the new fee of $175.00. One examination - no psychomotor examination required.

For more information, please click here.

National Registry Fee Schedule and NCCP CE Requirements

On July 1, 2024, the National Registry will be increasing the fees it charges for AEMT and Paramedic cognitive exams.

AEMT - $159.00
Paramedic - $175.00

Last Updated: February 24, 2026