---
title: O.C.G.A. § 31-11-53. Services which may be rendered by certified emergency medical technicians and trainees; provisional practice by military medical personnel.
collection: code
id: 31-11-53
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 31-11-53 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-11-53
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-11-53.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-11-53/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t31-(v23)-2025-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=da7ded69_0#page=710
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia
heading_path: HEALTH / EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES / PERSONNEL
---

# O.C.G.A. § 31-11-53. Services which may be rendered by certified emergency medical technicians and trainees; provisional practice by military medical personnel.

(a) Upon certification by the department, emergency medical technicians may do any of the following:

(1) Render first-aid and resuscitation services as taught in the United States Department of Transportation basic training courses for emergency medical technicians or an equivalent course approved by the department;

(2) Upon the order of a duly licensed physician, administer approved intravenous solutions and opioid antagonists; and

(3) Upon the order of a duly licensed physician during a public health emergency, as defined in Code Section 31-12-1.1, administer vaccines.

(b) While in training preparatory to becoming certified, emergency medical technician trainees may perform any of the functions specified in this Code section under the direct supervision of a duly licensed physician or a registered nurse.

(c) The department, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Service, shall establish a program through which military medical personnel may provisionally operate within their scope of practice and training without additional training, experience, or examination for a period of up to 12 months. During such 12 month period, such individual may apply for certification at the appropriate level. The program established pursuant to this subsection shall not conflict with or supplant Code Section 38-3-71 or Georgia’s status as a member of the EMS Interstate Compact.

(d) As used in this Code section, the term “military medical personnel” means an individual who has, within 12 months of seeking certification pursuant to this Code section, served as a medic in the United States Army, medical technician in the United States Air Force, or corpsman in the United States Navy or Coast Guard and who was discharged or released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable.

## History

Code 1933, § 88-3112.3, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 281, § 4; Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-3/HB 965; Ga. L. 2021, p. 782, § 5/SB 46; Ga. L. 2024, p. 409, § 1-3/SB 449, effective July 1, 2024; Ga. L. 2025, p. 1029, § 31(43)/SB 153, effective July 1, 2025.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-1/HB 965, not codified by the General Assembly, provides:

“WHEREAS, Naloxone is an opioid antagonist developed to counter the effects of opiate overdose, specifically the life threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems; and

“WHEREAS, Naloxone is clinically administered via intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous injection; and

“WHEREAS, Naloxone is administered outside of a clinical setting or facility intranasally via nasal atomizer; and

“WHEREAS, the American Medical Association supported the lay administration of this life saving drug in 2012; and

“WHEREAS, similar Naloxone access laws have reversed more than 10,000 opioid overdoses by lay people in other states; and

“WHEREAS, the American Medical Association acknowledged that ‘fatalities caused by opioid overdose can devastate families and communities, and we must do more to prevent these unnecessary deaths’; and

“WHEREAS, the National Institutes of Health found that Naloxone ‘lacks any psychoactive or addictive qualities . . . without any potential for abuse . . . [and] medical side effects or other problematic unintended consequences associated with Naloxone have not been reported’; and

“WHEREAS, any administration of Naloxone to an individual experiencing an opioid overdose must be followed by professional medical attention and treatment.”

Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 3-1/HB 965, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that Parts I and II of this Act shall apply to all acts committed on or after April 24, 2014.

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, added subsections (c) and (d).

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “As used in” for “For purposes of” in subsection (d).