The National Registry introduced a new continuing education (CE) program known as the 2025 National Continued Competency Program (NCCP) in December 2023. This program aims to encourage Nationally Certified EMS personnel to engage in lifelong learning while offering state and local agencies the flexibility to tailor continuing education to their specific operational requirements.
Welcome! As of October 1, 2023, Virginia officially implemented the new National Continued Competency Program (NCCP) model from the National Registry of EMTs across all certification levels. While following the overall National Registry NCCP framework, Virginia's adopted plan is customized for the needs of the Commonwealth.
Here's a 30-second snapshot of what you need to know about this transition.
Hours Requirements
The image below shows the 2016-2025 Virginia Recertification Requirements by level. Please note your CE requirements are tied to the date of your last Virginia recertification cycle--the date to keep in mind is October 1, 2023. Please see the chart below--clicking on the image will begin a download of the PDF version of the form.
If you recertified in Virginia before October 1, 2023:
- No earned CE will be lost or removed from your report in the transition.
- You will remain under the 2016 Virginia Recertification Requirements through your next recertification cycle.
- Following your next recertification in Virginia, you will then be required to follow the 2025 Virginia Recertification Requirements.
If you 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 your Virginia CE Report--from October 1, 2023 forward--will be retroactively transitioned to the new 2025 Virginia Recertification Requirements.
- The retroactive reprocessing of your CE to the new 2025 requirements may possibly change the number of hours you have in a specific area based on the new requirements.
- Please review your Virginia CE Report 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 the National Registry, if you are Registry certified.
- If you are eligible for recertification in Virginia on June 17th, your eligibility will not be lost even if your CE report reflects additional hours are needed in any area. You will not be required to complete these additional CE based on this change in CE requirements to satisfy your Virginia recertification.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to us by clicking here and using this form.
BLS & ALS Recertification Requirements
Yes, you could be affected.
For more on this see the graphics below.
The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) is implementing an updated model for continuing education and recertification called the National Continued Competency Program (NCCP). This new standardized approach goes into effect for EMTs, AEMTs, and Paramedics with recertification dates on or after March 31, 2026.
What is the NCCP? The NCCP streamlines the recertification process into three strategic categories of continuing education requirements:
- National Component (50%)
- State/Local Component (25%)
- Individual Component (25%)
Why the Change? The goal of the NCCP is to encourage nationally certified EMS professionals to pursue lifelong learning while allowing flexibility to customize continuing education based on national guidelines, state/local protocols, and individual training needs.
Key Points About the NCCP Model:
National Component (50%)
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- Based on current trends in evidence-based medicine, scope of practice changes, and guidance from EMS organizations
- Topics include airway, cardiology, trauma, medical emergencies, and operations
- Increased focus on low-frequency, high-criticality patient presentations
- Must include 10% pediatric content
- Standardized courses eligible for credit hours are outlined in the National Component Course Guide
State/Local Component (25%)
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- Continuing education defined by your specific state, regional, or local agency protocols and needs
- Covers areas like local protocols, specializations, high-risk/priority domains for your area
Individual Component (25%)
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- You choose any state or CAPCE approved EMS-related education courses based on personal interests and goals
Total CE Hours Required: The total required CE hours combines the 3 components for your certification level:
- Paramedic: 60 hours
- Intermediate (Virginia ONLY): 55
- AEMT: 50 hours
- EMT: 40 hours
- EMR: 16 hours
For more information on Virginia's implementation of the National Continued Competency Program (NCCP), please see the fifth panel below. Details about the rollout and where you as a provider stand in this transition, please see then sixth panel below.
Here are the key changes and new elements in the 2025 NCCP model compared to the previous 2015 model:
National Component (50%)
Evidence-Based Guidelines Focus
The 2025 model has an increased emphasis on incorporating evidence-based guidelines (EBGs) that meet criteria set by the National Academy of Medicine into the National Component. NREMT has partnered with the Prehospital Guidelines Consortium to provide open access to these peer-reviewed EBGs.
Topics
While cardiovascular, trauma, airway, medical, and OB still comprise the broad categories, the 2025 model provides more comprehensive topic areas like neurology, stroke, geriatrics, and disaster management under the umbrella of "Medical."
State/Local Component (25%)
No Major Changes
Individual Component (25%)
No Major Changes
Pediatric Content
IMPORTANT: For those maintaining your Registry certification, pediatric content must constitute 10% of the National Component. Pediatric CE content is not tracked as a separate area by the Virginia CE Reporting system. To make it easier to calculate the pediatric content, all CE topics which are considered pediatric will begin with a prefix of "PED".
It is the responsibility of the provider to be able to justify attainment of the 10% of pediatric hours if they cannot be easily determined by OEMS staff and the provider is selected for audit by the National Registry.
Standardized Course Requirements
The Virginia Auxiliary Course Breakdown outlines which courses qualify for credit hours in each domain, often with maximum caps, can be found in a panel below.
Total CE Hours
The total CE hour requirements for each level have not change. Each of the areas have either slightly increased or decreased compared to 2016. Please see the panel below for details of the new CE hour requirements by level being implemented statewide.
In order to ensure Virginia's changes match those of the Registry, Virginia will retroactively apply the changes to October 1, 2023. Virginia CE Reports will be updated and on June 18, 2024, provider Virginia CE Reports will reflect the new 2025 CE requirements.
Documentation
In summary, while maintaining flexibility for state/local and individual education, the biggest changes are the formalized National Component structure for 2025, use of EBGs, addition of operational topics, and providing a standardized course framework defining what qualifies in each domain.
The core of Virginia's implementation of the National Continued Competency Program (NCCP) is the breakdown of continuing education into three components: the National Component, the State/Local Component, and the Individual Component. Together, these three elements ensure EMS professionals in the Commonwealth meet consistent national standards while also targeting localized training needs and individual focus areas over each recertification cycle.
For the National Component, Virginia has adopted the NCCP's Model of allocating 50% of the total required CE hours to this domain. However, the Commonwealth has outlined specific level-by-level hourly requirements that EMS providers must meet in order to recertify their NREMT credentials. The National Component thresholds are: 30 hours for Paramedics, 28 hours for Virginia Intermediates, 25 hours for Advanced EMTs, 20 hours for EMTs, and 8 hours for Emergency Medical Responders. These represent half of each level's total CE load over the recertification period.
In addition to the National Component requirements, Virginia EMS professionals must also fulfill the State/Local Component (25% of total hours) and the Individual Component (remaining 25%). Details on the hourly minimums for each level in these two categories, as well as the comprehensive total CE load per level, can be found on the Component Requirements page. Understanding your certification level's required distribution is crucial for maintaining compliance with Virginia's CE Program.
The following image shows the 2016-2025 Virginia Recertification Requirements by division. Clicking on the image will begin a download of the PDF version of the form.
BLS & ALS Recertification Requirements
