HB 493 Summary

• Enacts the Recognition of Emergency Medical Services Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact, allowing Mississippi to join other states in recognizing EMS personnel licenses across state lines.

• Establishes an Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice with authority to promulgate uniform rules, maintain a coordinated database of licensure and adverse actions, and enforce compact provisions.

• Permits EMS personnel (EMTs, AEMTs, paramedics) licensed in member states to practice in other member states under a "privilege to practice" if their home state meets specified requirements including use of NREMT examinations and criminal background checks.

• Authorizes member states to take adverse actions against individuals' licenses or privileges to practice, with the home state retaining exclusive power over licenses and remote states able to restrict practice within their borders.

• Amends Mississippi Code sections 41-59-3, 41-59-29, 41-59-33, and 41-59-35 to recognize the privilege to practice and integrate compact provisions into state EMS certification requirements; effective July 1, 2017.