Renewals mailed after Dec. 21 may cause you problems

By JOHN HULTGREN
Kentucky EMS Connection

FRANKFORT — Is your Kentucky Board of EMS license or certification expiring on Dec. 31? If you don't have your renewal paperwork into the KBEMS office by Dec. 21, you may have to miss some work.

The KBEMS office will be closing at 4:30 pm on Thursday, Dec. 21, and will not reopen until Jan. 2. KBEMS gets an extended holiday under KCTCS.

KBEMS has informed those due for renewal of the extended closing by mail and on their Internet site.

KBEMS executive director Brian Bishop said today that he has made arrangements for staff to be available to process all renewal applications received on Dec. 21 before closing the office. Renewals received after that date, as long as they are postmarked by Dec. 31, will be processed in January. However, state regulations say that EMS providers must have a valid certification or license on their person when working, and EMS personnel working with an expired certification or license, along with the service provider, can face disciplinary action.

And next year, if KBEMS successfully deploys their new data collection program, it will be easy for KBEMS to see who was working on an expired card.

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